KEN THE HEDGEHOG: Verses XIII
by Cucumba
Summary: (Takes place after "A Mobian's Tale".) What if Ken the Hedgehog himself was forced into the world of Fabula Nova, one that is foreign to him? Taken away from his world by a mysterious being known as Paragon, he must fight to put a stop of redoing the event that created everything like it was before. However, he's not alone in the fight, with two people from the same time to help.
1. Before the Events - Prologue Part 1

_**(Now, before those who are following me, this story also takes place after my interactive adventure "A Mobian's Tale" on my DeviantART account. You can search it on Google to find it yourself on move on from there (I'm not really one to do this, but for the sake of the story and of FanFiction's rules to sharing stories, it's the best I can do . I hope you enjoy the part of the "Prolouge" before the main story happens so it can clear things up for later chapters. This is a crossover between Final Fantasy XIII and my own character. There will be spoilers for the game. If you're one to not care for things as such, then you're fine. Enjoy the story.)**_

_**Station Square - Church - Time: 3:06 PM**_

"...Are you taking off now?" A Brown male hedgehog with a Grey arrow-like marking on his top quill and Dark Blue eyes, along with glasses, wore a Brown and Grey shirt, also having a Black one armed backpack with it being held together by sports tape, along with his left arm and leg, also having Black pants with his Grey arrow symbol on it along with chains, Black and Grey shoes, a ring through his ear, and had White gloves with the palms being Black; Ken the Hedgehog himself, asked while a mobian with little to know origins begun to walk away.

"Yeah... I should probably return back to what I do, go on my own way." He/she said, in which Ken nodded.

"Alright, I understand. But remember what I'm about to tell you." Ken said as he smiled and crossed his arms. "You're our friend and a member of our group. If you need any help with anything, you know on who to call. When you do, we'll come running." The Mobian looked back at Ken and the others, which contained Stone, a Light Grey Furred hedgehog with the same colored eyes wearing a tanktop, Black jeans, gauntlets on his arms, and boots, Edge, a small Red cat with Black and Grey clothing, Yune, a Grey furred hedgehog with Green eyes and wore a white shirt with a blue vest, jeans, and black boots, and finally Gemstone, a Emerald Green hedgehog with the same colored eyes and wore an adventurist outfit.

"I will." He/she said before continuing to walk, going its own way before Ken smirked and stretched.

"Aw man, talk about an adventure that will really wear you out!" He said before finishing and quickly turning to them along with doing a clap. "How about he we head to somewhere where we can relax or something, grabe a bite to eat or something. Who's with me?!" They all quickly cheered happily in celebration, finally being able to stop Mephilies, except for Stone and, for some reason in which caught his attention, Gemstone.

"I'm afraid that I must not." Stone said while shaking his hand and head a bit. "I must find and return the Master Emerald back to where it rightfully belongs so I may protect it for any reasons possibly."

"Alright Stone, I udnerstand." Ken said with a nod while they looked at each other, then offered him his hand. "Thanks for help and looking after that Mobian. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

"It not a problem. I am glad to have assisted." Stone said as he too then walked off, returning back to Angel Island while Ken looked at everyone to see Gemstone looking down in thought still, making him worried a bit but then looked at everyone else.

"So guys, what do you say? How about we eat at a good place and have a good time?!" He asked happily, making Edge jump up happily.

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! I'd love some food!" He said with a smile while he kept jumping.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Yune said while smiling, in which Ken nodded before stretching his neck and arms.

"Alrighty! Let's do it then!" He said as he then walked with everyone else through the town, while also keeping an eye on Gemstone. _"What's up with her? I wonder if there's something bothering her..."_

_**Station Square - Restaurant - Time: 6:34 PM**_

"...So then here's what we did." Ken said while taking a drink of soda and sitting with everyone else at a table while also eating burgers. "We sealed him back up to where he once was, and he won't be getting out of it for a LONG time. We got out of it out of pure luck, but we did it."

"It must have been intense for the both of you to deal with him after the world fell apart." Yune said before taking a sip, with him nodding.

"It was. But we did it. It took a heck ton of effort to do it, but it was all worth it in the end." He said just before Gemstone got up to refill her drink, which caught his attention. "Hey, I'll be right back." He got up slowly begun to follow her to the soda dispenser, then got near her. "Hey, is something wrong?" Hearing this surprised her because she wasn't paying attention, then slowly look at him with a half-nod.

"Y-Yeah...I am..." She lied, but he noticed it easily and he crossed his arms, which made her sigh. "No...It's just that I've...I've been thinking, about us."

"About us?" Ken asked, which took him by surprise, but he began to listen. "Alright, so what about us?" Gemstone looked at everyone, took a deep breath, and looked at him.

"Can we...Can we talk outside?" She asked, with him nodding as the two went outside while both Yune and Edge watched them, and finally made their way outside.

"Alright, so what is it?" He asked, with her then looking down sadly, making him sad a bit. "You can tell me if something's wrong..." He then sighed a bit. "...It's bad, isn't it?"

"It's...It's about what happened a bit ago. With Mephiles destroying the universe and all..." Gemstone suddenly said as she looked at him in the eyes. "...I died because of it. I...I can't imagine the amount of pain it must have put onto you..."

"Hey, it's fine. Don't worry about it." Ken said as he put his hand on her shoulders, with her reacting by stepping back to get them off.

"No, it's not. My death hurt you so much...And making you feel like that...It's my fault...It's my fault you felt that multiple times..." Gemstone said, which surprised Ken.

"Multiple times?" He asked. "What do you mean by that?" She then sighs.

"When...When I betrayed you with Xiran, getting Comet killed, making you go through the entire fight of who will stay at Station Square or Soleanna because of me being selfish, and having you go through my death like that...I can't imagine the amount of pain I made you go through..." She said while pinching her forehead and Ken listening to her. "...And it's all because of me...Me falling for you, and our relationship...It's just caused you to get nothing but hit and hit over and over again. Each and everyone of them getting stronger and stronger as they just keep...Keep coming!" She finally had tears coming out of her eyes.

"Gemmy-" He tried to say.

"Don't call me that anymore...I don't deserve you..." She said, which took him by surprise. "I all I ever did was cause you pain...I...I never should have formed these feelings for you...Because all it did was get you hurt..."

"So...What are you saying? Are you saying we should..." He said in devastation by what she's saying, with her slowly nodding. "I mean, come on! You can't be serious! This is-"

"I...I don't want to see you..." She said, which put him in more devastation. "Our romance only hurt you more than made you happy...And...I don't deserve anyone to be with..."

"Gem, this-this is crazy! All just..." He said as he fought back a few tears, making Gemstone cry now, with him sighing sadly. "O-Ok...I'll be the one to break it off. So you don't have to..." She then looked at him. "If you want to think that...Then let me be the one to do it..." She started to cry more and more, leaving him heartbroken. "Then...I guess...I'm breaking up with you..." He looked down to not look at her crying, which made him feel bad enough. "Is...Is that what you wanted then?"

"Y-Y-Yes...Thank you..." She said before walking away, but stopped. "Can you...Can you tell them I'm not coming back inside?"

"...Yeah...I will..." He said as Gemstone then walked away, leaving him to just stand there and slowly walk back inside, while a shadowy humanoid figure watched them.

"Aw...Poor little thing..." It said, revealing to be female, and walked away afterwards.

_**In Fabula Nova Chrystallis**__  
><em>  
><span><em><strong>284 AF<strong>_  
><span><em><strong>Gran Pulse - Archlyte Steppe - Time: 18:46 <strong>_

"Cocoon's Pillar about to collapse!" A young and small boy said as he ran through the Green grasslands of a large area of plains and small occupied towns from within. "It's about to collapse hurt everyone!" Most of those in the town looked at the small boy in shock.

"I-Is it really true?!" One man asked.

"Oh my goodness..." One female said as she then prayed.

"Someone get the military on this or something!" Another male said as the nearby male nodded and quickly ran to a communicator on one of the walls and begun to make a call.

"Hello?" A female voice asked through it.

"Get the military on Cocoon's crystal pillars! Something's about to make it fall!" He said quickly and in fear.  
><strong><em><br>Cocoon - Sunleath Waterscape_**

Inside an area that looked very Autumn-like, which was once a nature filled area, held giant Flans, which were giant Red Ooze that looked like a tomato but with goopy arms and mouths, slowly moved over to an area filled with crystal while being led by a larger one with multiple faces on them known as the 'Royal Ripeness'. It lead multiple Flans to the crystal pillar in which held Cocoon, making it somewhat melt and crack slightly, weakening it more and more until there were bullets being shot at them, making them scream as soldiers from a military of some sort came in from a aircraft and landed in.

"Team Blaster, fight them off and keep them occupied long enough!" The leader from within yelled loudly while looking at the area. "Team Defender: Get Oerba Dia Vanille and Oerba Yun Fang out of there. It's about time we owe those two after all they did. Move!" Another team came out of the aircraft, with drills in hand, and begun to drill a hole through the crystal while he pressed a button on his ear piece. "Team Enhancer, make sure all of those airships keep Cocoon afloat for as long as you can! Multiple people and soldiers are here! That's an order!"

"Afrimative sir. Cocoon ain't going ANYWHERE." One soldier said, while on the outside, multiple airships from the military kept the large planet afloat as best as they could.

"Good. Now stay there while others get those supporter beams from Gran Pulse up running!" The leader said as multiple of the soldiers in the Sunleath kept shooting at the Flans and Royal Ripeness as best as possible and at one point resulted in shooting them with rocket launchers.

"Nothing's working on them sir! They're too strong!" Another soldier yelled outloud in fear until he was hit by a fireball from a Flan, killing him.

"Just keep hitting them as best and strong as you can boys! Cocoon and the people of Gran Pulse's lives depend on it! Don't let all of those who live there down!" The leader said while those in Team Defender kept drilling through the crystal as fast as they possibly could, making it crack more and more as it begun to fall apart.

"Come on! Just hang in there a little longer!" The main driller, which was a female, said until she finally hit something from within. "I found a weakpoint! Help me dig through it!" Some of them then helped her drill through it as much as they possibly could until they reached the core, seeing two people, one young that was nineteen and one that was twenty one, from the inside that was in a crystal stasis and in a pose of which they were a foetus sleeping position and holding hands. "I found Vanille and Fang!"

"Good! Now drag them out!" The leader said while more and more of the soldiers fighting were killed by either being smashed or killed by their Fire spells, and those in Defender begun to drag the two of them out of the crystallized area. He begun to sweat a bit but then decided to take a part in the battle, in which he took out a large shotgun from his back, and begun to shoot at the Flans as much as possible.

"Sir! The support beams are ready! Just give the word!" One soldier said from a different area.

"Very good soldier! On my go!" The leader said until the ones in Defender finally got the two out.

"Sir! We've got them out! Sending them your way!" The main driller said.

"Good job soldier! Return to base!" The leader said until he put up the shot gun. "Men, return to the aircraft quickly, double time!" At that very moment, those who survived in Team Blaster quickly ran to the aircraft while shooting at the flans, and in Team Defender put the crystallized Vanille and Fang inside along with the others. Once they entered, the aircraft then started another set of rockets and begun to set off, leaving the Flans and Royal Ripness to continue and destroy the last remains of the Crystal Pillar. "Ready the support beams on my go!" They kept flying away as the leader kept watching until the inevitable finally happened; The crystal pillar then broke as the rest of it then shattered, making Cocoon begin to fall. "NOW!"

"Got it sir!" A man said as he was inside the falling of the crystal pillar, and pressed a button on a machine that was now attached to the ground, shooting out a large amount of wires from the inside which later formed multiple beams of metal and turned into a large one, then hitting where the crystal pillar was once in, making the large planet slow down until it made a complete halt, stopping it from falling. "It's stopped sir!"

"Well done soldier. That was terrific bravery you had there." The leader said as the aircraft kept flying away to a new location while those in the Archlyte Steppe witnessed what happened and begun to cheer, along with a small Orange mist coming out of the ground with nobody noticing it, observing what happened but then slowly seeped back inside its spot.


	2. The Fall - Prologue Part 2

_**0 AF  
>Cocoon - Eden<strong>__  
><em>  
>The capital of Cocoon, Eden, a large city that floated in the sky, had it' base in which contains the Fal'Cie with the same name, glow brightly as it caused most of the lights in the area to go out, along with the entire planet of Cocoon, and every building in the area begun to fall apart while four other particular people were floating in the area and soon to be turned to crystal. Lightning, a twenty-one year old woman with Pink hair and Blue eyes while she wore a Guardian Corps outfit, Snow Villiers, a man that's the same age as Lightning but has long Blonde hair with a same colored scuffed beard, Blue eyes, and wore a Black Bandanna, Gloves, Boots, Light Blue vest under a Black shirt, a striped Blue scarf on his belt, and a Beige coat, Sazh Latzroy, a middle-aged Black man with an afro, a Green-Olive coat, Khaki trousers, White shirt, and Black boots and fingerless gloves, and finally, Hope Estheim, and young fourteen year old boy with short Silver hair, wearing a short-sleeved Orange and Yellow jacket with a Green neckerchief over his Black shirt, and Black gloves with White palms.<p>

"Stay together!" Lightning yelled as they all quickly tried to grab each others hands, but once they did that realized someone was missing, with Snow looking down to see Oerba Dia Vanille, a nineteen year old girl with Bright Red hair that had parts curled into pigtails, Green eyes, pierced ears with Silver rings, and wore a Pink Halter top, an Orange and Yellow skirt, Beige boots with some sort of White fur around the ankles, a Fur pelt around her waist, and wore multiple bracelets on her arms, beaded neckalces, and large amount of beads attached to some parts of her cloating, and Oerba Yun Fang, a twenty one year old woman that's skin was Bronze-ish, wavy Brown hair, and Purple claw-like earrings, while also wearing Blue Safari-like clothing, a short Black top, same colored sleeves on her forearms, Tan colored open-toe sandals, and two pelts to hold her spear.

"Fang! Vanille!" Snow yelled as he tried to reach his hand for them, but he was too far away to do it, while the two held their hands and Vanille looking down sadly, making Fang look at her.

"Vanille?" She asked in a small Australian accent, in which she then looked up to her and they grabbed each others hands, along with Fang's shoulder glowing and a part of Vanille's thigh doing the same.

"Ready." Vanille said in the same accent as their bright lights suddenly flashed largely, suddenly forming ashes but slowly begun to come together to form the being known as Ragnarok, a large beast with multiple Orange arms on its back, with the same colored long hair and metal pieces, in which it roared loudly in complete rage while the planet of Cocoon begun to fly its way down to the area of Gran Pulse.

Ragnarok quickly climbed down on the building it landed on and jumped into an opening in which contained hot magma, and then blasted through the other side while grabbing on the part it came from. But at that moment, it exploded into multiple magma arms as parts of it formed into a large hot liquid with the parts of Gran Pulse, until it Ragnarok itself exploded, making the liquid suddenly turn into crystal to hold Cocoon in its place and sealed itself inside the base of it, while at the same time, parts of the old Sanctum Fal'Cie glowed brightly as its life was about to go out and combined the last of their powers to create an Orange light and made it fall into the area of Gran Pulse.

**_Gran Pulse_****  
><strong>  
>Inside the large plain of grass, held the crystallized Cocoon, along with the others in their crystal stasis, doing nothing and stayed in it for an eternity until something unlikely happened; Lightning herself was suddenly out of her stasis, leaving her to a point of being taken back but then looked at what happened to Cocoon.<p>

"They did it...They saved the world." She said to herself silently.

"No...They gave us a new one." A voice said as she looked to see the others no longer in their stasis as well, with the one saying it being Snow.

"That's one gift I'll forgive 'em for not wrapping." Sazh said with a chuckle, with Hope doing the same.

"Does this mean...We completed our focus?" He asked as he looked under another handkerchief that was on his left arm, seeing his brand gone.

"Cocoon's seen better days. That's for sure." Snow said while looking at his arm, then they all heard voices from the distance coming their direction, putting them in question.

"An-An-And there was this whole bunch of Chocobo's there!" A young kid said, revealing to be Sazh's son, Dajh, who looked much like Sazh but was only six years old and was walking with Lighting's sister, and Snow's Fiance, Serah, who was eighteen and looked much like her older sister.

"There was, was there?" Serah asked until she saw them and pointed at them for Dajh, and quickly ran to them.

S-Serah!" Snow said with the happiest smile and quickly ran, along with Sazh nearby.

"Daddy!" Dajh said as he hugged his father loving, making Sazh laugh while both Serah and Snow kept running and hugged each other tightly, hoping to no longer separate until she grabbed Snow's hand and ran over to Lightning, whom she hugged and received one back.

"Serah...I'm sorry." Lightning said, making Serah smile a bit.

"It's ok. It's all ok." She said, but Snow stayed near her and gripped her shoulder securely.

"Hey, hey, hey! The apologies can wait. We have a wedding to plan!" He said with a smile, which made most of the laugh a bit, but then he turned serious. "I swear to you...I will make her happy."

"I believe you." Lightning said while, unknown to them, the Orange light landed onto the ground and slowly seeped in, creating a small Orange mist.

_****KEN THE HEDGEHOG: Verses XIII****_


	3. His Loss and Destruction

_**In Another Universe**_

_**Station Square - Time: 12:14 PM**__  
><em>_**April 4, 3543**_

In the outside of a large city filled with buildings that's the height of skyscrapers and filled with Mobians and cars, held a large set of plains with hills and trees, with a being sitting on it and staring at the sky. The being revealed to be the world hero, Ken the Hedgehog, a Brown hedgehog with a Grey arrow-like marking on his top quill, in which he now had multiple ones under his normal ones, Dark Blue eyes, and wore glasses, wore a Brown and Grey shirt, also having a Black one armed backpack with a Red circle on the top piece, Blue scarf with a Silver necklace, having sports tape on both ankles and forearms, also having Black pants with his Grey arrow symbol on it along with chains, Black and Grey shoes, a ring through his ear, and had White gloves with the palms being Black and wearing a Gold ring on his middle finger.

_"The sky looks so...Much more peaceful today...Much more despite Mephiles and everyone else gone..." _Ken thought to himself before he closed his eyes to rest them but then heard footsteps coming up, but he never once moved.

"Ken?" A female voice asked as he then looked to see it was his twin sister, Yune, a Grey Hedgehog with Green eyes and wore a Black hoodie, Khaki jeans, and boots. "Are...Are you ok?" He didn't respond and just kept looking at the sky, making her sigh and keep walking closer so she could rip his shoulder. "Come on. It's your birthday just as well as mine. Don't be so sad on a day like this." He didn't move, making her concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just...How many people died today, twenty years ago?" He suddenly asked, which took her back. "Twenty years ago...Is when our dad died by the hands of Xiran, and our clan. I just can't...Can't help but feel like I shouldn't be happy on a day...Like this." Yune sighed lightly upon hearing this.

"Don't let what happened before ruin it for you. If anything, mom and dad would want us happy." She said as he then looked at her, with her smiling. "Come on. Edge and Ariel are waiting, even Stone. Plus...We brought someone you might be surprised to see." His eyes widened a bit, thinking it is who he thinks this person is, and nods in agreement, which made her smile more. "Good. Now let's go. We don't want to make them wait." He slowly got up and the two of them walked back to town, while a humanoid shadow watched them in the distance, then disappeared.

_**Station Square - Uppertown - Time: 12:43 PM**_

Both of the twins finally made their way to the house and opened the door.

"Hey! We're home!" Yune yelled through the house to see Ariel, a old Red Fox, walk in with a bunch of presents inside.

"Thank goodness you're safe." She said to Ken and suddenly hugged him, which took him by surprise but he hugged back while Edge, a small nine year old Red Cat with Black and Grey clothing came out and saw him.

"Ken! You're here!" He said as he then ran and hugged him around the waist, with him smiling slightly and hugged back around his head.

"Yeah, I am." He said as Edge then grabbed his hand and started toward the kitchen, dragging him inside, making him smile a bit until it was dropped by seeing something, Gemstone, a Green furred Hedgehog with the same colored eyes while wearing a Grey T-shirt, Black skirt, Boots, and gloves, sitting on the coffee table with Stone, a Light Grey Hedgehog with the same colored eyes, now wearing a Black full-body armor with his gauntlets installed. "G-Gem..." She only looked down, not wanting to look at him.

"We found her around the area recently. After those events...We thought maybe this would give you the time to talk about what occurred six months ago." Stone said before getting up, then looking at the rest. "Perhaps we should go to leave them behind for now." They nodded and left both Ken and Gemstone alone, with they both staying silent.

"...Hi..." Gemstone said suddenly, making Ken nod slightly. "Are you doing alright?"

"...Yeah, I guess so..." He said, with the both of them still being a bit silent, but then sighed. "Look...I never asked them for you to come here. I didn't...I just-"

"No..No, it's fine." She said suddenly, interrupting him. "I'm...I'm sorry for hurting you that night...I only...I just thought that..."

"It's alright...I understand your reasons." Ken said before sitting down. "I'm just wondering...Why you decided to isolate yourself after what happened between us. Was it...Because of the shame of you breaking up with me? You didn't want to see me in pain? Or...Something between those lines?"

"No...It was nothing like those." Gemstone said as she stared at him in the eyes. "I isolated myself...Because I knew that if I stayed around, I'd only hurt you. So...I thought that...Maybe...It was for the best...Friends or not..."

"Gem..." Ken said as he grabbed her hand in comfort, but not out of love, with her looking at him. "We all still care for you regardless, even me. Boyfriend or not, I'm still here for you...As a friend, or whatever you want it to be." He then looked at Edge, who was outside. "Edge missed you the most out of everyone. Every day he asked when you'll be home, or if you're ok. If it was to stop me from being in pain, then...What pained me more is you never being in any of our lives." Her eyes widened upon hearing that, then looked at Edge. "We don't have to be in a relationship to be near each other. Let's be a group again, as friends." He offered his hand to her, with her staring but slowly smiled and took it.

"...As friends." She said, making each other smile while the group from the outside all high-fived each other. "C'mon. We have a party to start." They both got up and walked outside with the others, making them smile. "Hey guys. What do you say we finally get to our location?"

"Sounds good to me!" Yune said with a smile, then looked at Ariel. "Are you sure you want to stay home?"

"Yes, I'm fine sweetie. You all just have fun." She said before heading into the house, but it was suddenly shot and destroyed by a large fireball, killing Ariel with it in the process, which shocked them.

"ARIEL! NO!" Gemstone yelled, which shocked Yune and Edge the most as they begun to cry, then they all looked to see a large molten lava-like giant crashing and destroying through the city. "W-WHAT IS THAT THING?!"

"I don't know WHAT it is, but we've got to stop it!" Ken said until there was one thing that brought their attention the most, seeing a Hedgehog-like humanoid that was Light Brown with Black outlines around the eyes, quills that went downward, arms, Black Elf-like shoes, Blood Red outlines on his legs and Blood on his fingers, and Gold shoulder pads, ankle and forearm pads, and a circle in which held a skull-like symbol but had horns, seeing like it's on a final stage. "What...Is that thing on top? It's like its master!"

"You all must stall this monster while I try to obtain the Master Emerald from within the house! I brought it with me in case of such battles as this!" Stone said as he quickly ran to the ruins and attempted to look through it.

"You do that, I'll stall as much time as I possibly can!" Ken said as he took out the seven Chaos Emeralds from his backpack, and they begun to hover and spin around him, causing a small light to burst, turning him into Super Ken, who now had Gold fur and Red Ruby eyes along with a Golden Aura, same with anyone else who used its power. "Let's beat this thing first before getting to the main guy!" Yune looked over at him slowly, then suddenly got a large amount of motivation to stop it, in which she got up to look at Gemstone.

"Get Edge out of here as far as you can! I'm helping him block this monster!" She said as she walked over to Super Ken, with him looking as they nodded, and her quickly putting her hand on his hand to absorb the Super energy, becoming Super Yune. "Let's do this!"

"Right!" Super Ken said as the two of them rushed toward the large monster and begun to attack them with Chaos Spears, but to their surprise, it did little to no damage. Super Ken decided to restradegize and put a majority of his power into his chains and fists, making them more powerful as he begun to lash and punch at its chest, hoping to open up a spot so Yune could shoot at it for critical damage, but it still did little to nothing on him, making him do a last resort like he never did before. He begun to charge up as much Chaos Energy as possible in his spindash, with Gold orbs coming in, strengthening him more and more until he let it go, hoping to crack through it but nothing worked onto it as well. "Damn it! Nothing's working at all!" At the same time, the Mobian looked in the distance to see the running Gemstone and Edge.

"...You will not escape...Thundaga." He said in a morphed voice before swinging his hand toward them, suddenly striking a large amount of thunder at them, which was about to hit them until Stone finally saw after finding the Master Emerald.

"NO!" Stone yelled as he quickly ran to them, hoping to take the hit for them but it was too late as it then hit Edge, shocking him and eventually making his body in the ground, signifying he was probably dead, but was able to get in just in time to push Gemstone out of the way, making him take the hit as well and putting him in the same state as Edge now. They all saw this in complete shock.

"NO! EDGE! STONE!" Super Ken yelled before his anger finally reached its limit. "First Ariel...Stone...And NOW EDGE!" He suddenly bursted in power, enhancing his strength. "I don't know who you are...But I'll stop you before you kill ANYONE ELSE!" Gemstone slowly began to recover and saw their bodies, shocking her and then putting her into anger as well. "Yune! Gem! Let's do this!"

"Right!" Super Yune said as she lend Gemstone her powers, turning her into Super Gemstone.

"For Edge and Stone!" Super Gemstone said just before they aimed their hands at the revealing Master Emerald, making it glow as it gave the Chaos Emeralds more power, turning into Super Emeralds, and making all of their fur turn from Gold into multicolor before turning into White, becoming Hyper.

"...So, this is the extent of your abilities." The mobian said as he then crossed his arms to observe it.

_**"Alright! Let's do it!"**_Hyper Ken said as the three of them flew around in blistering lights, with the monster only observing slowly before attempting to swing its arm to fight it off but was suddenly punched in the shoulder by Super Gemstone, making it yell in pain and giving them the idea that they're now more powerful and begun to pull out a full all-out assault on it, shooting Chaos Spears all around as parts of its molten lava armor begun to come off.

**"It's working! Just a little bit more!" **Hyper Yune said as both her and Gemstone kept shooting Chaos Spear while Hyper Ken begun to charge up his Spindash with multiple colored orbs being abaorbed into him, but once he was finished, he formed a large rainbow aura around him but he kept Spindashing long enough to gain more power.

**_"This is it! Here...We...GO!"_**Hyper Ken yelled until he flashed behind the large monster in split second, suddenly cracking a hole through both sides of it and giving both Hyper Yune and Gemstone enough time to quickly finish the attack off with a large barrage of energy, making the cracking grow more and more until it covered its whole body and suddenly break apart, destroying the large giant.

**_"Yes! We did it!"_**Hyper Gemstone said as they landed on the ground to see the giants remains falling, with a whole arm landing as well, and the Mobian slowly starting to descend onto the ground.

"This power...It even defeated the Pulse Fal'Cie; Titan. That is simply remarkable." He said, but closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "But...Your newest powers cannot match up to mine myself. You may try all you want, but it will be nothing."

**_"You must REALLY think you're all talk, aren't you?"_**Hyper Ken asked anger. _"After all the damage you did to us, and this city. You're going down big time!" _

"If that is what you think...Then may you have the first strike." The Mobian said after looking at Hyper Gemstone.

**_"Alright, if that's what you want!"_**Hyper Gemstone said as she then punched the Mobian in the chest with all her power, but it did not hurt him by any mean, which shocked her until he slowly grabbed her wrist softly.

"...Blizzaga." He said, suddenly freezing Hyper Gemstone's entire body into ice, shocking them. "...Simply easy." He took his hand to aim it at her, and then forced a sudden burst of energy to do what was never expected: Hyper Gemstone's body that became one with the ice, broke, killing her as it shocked everyone.

**_"N-NO! GEMSTONE!" _**Hyper Yune said in shock, but then yelled in rage as she quickly shot a barrage of Chaos Spears alongside Hyper Ken, which didn't affect him at all and he countered them by shooting a burst of energy to send them back harshly through multiple buildings. The mobian slowly walked to where they went, seeing Hyper Yune now returned to normal and knocked out, but Hyper Ken on one of his knees and breathing heavily.

"...You are all that remains of your group now. Are you yet ready to surrender, Ken the Hedgehog?" He asked as Hyper Ken slowly got up weakly, but also in anger now.

**"You...Who...Who are you?" **Hyper Ken asked after finally getting up, in which the Mobian only stood and shook his head.

"...Did all the time since you've last seen me finally get to your memory? The amount of time it's been since you've done the deed?" He asked but sighed. "I'm sad to know that. But regardless, it's time to finish off the very last member of your group, and finish what I have started." Hearing this made Hyper Ken mad prepare himself.

_**"You come to MY WORLD and hurt and kill MY FRIENDS, and you act all nonchalant about it! You won't get away with this!"**_He yelled as he suddenly bursted into a rainbow aura, increasing his power as parts of the ground nearby crumbled a bit. **_"I WILL protect this world, and STOP YOU FROM DESTROYING IT!"_** He quickly dashed toward the Mobian and begun to punch him harshly in the face as harshly as possible, making each and every punch stronger and stronger through rage, and did make his head move but did no damage. On the last punch, it was suddenly stopped by his hand, which shocked him as it did no damage to him at all.

"...You were never this weak before." He said until his hands were covered in flames, making Hyper Ken actually scared. "...Firaga." The flames suddenly bursted in front of him, making him scream and flying through another building. He slowly walked to him to see that Hyper Ken is now back to his normal form, still awake but now weak. "...It is time to put you out of your misery..." The Chaos Emeralds near Ken begun to rotate around him, along with the last remains of Titan, as the sky begun to turn Red with the same colored lightning in the sky, destroying remains of the earth alongside its inhabitants. Ken slowly begun to get up, but ever so barely, and witnessed what was happening. "...Farewell, Ken the Hedgehog." He suddenly faded away in a mist of Orange, leaving him.

"N-No...I-I failed...I-I failed..." He said to himself as the earth began to disintegrate, along with the universe, with him slowly looking around. "Y-Yune? Yune!" He looked quickly to see her unconscious body about to fall through an opening of the earth and into the nonexistent space created by the chaos of the Mobian. "NO!" He quickly ran as fast as he could, leaving behind the remains falling into nonexistence, and just when she was about to fall, he grabbed her hand to stop her. "Yune...Wake up...Wake up, please..." The universe then made a large boom, making him lose her grip. "Please...You're my only family now...You're all I've got left..." She didn't respond or wake up still, but when another boom came up, he lost his grip on her, making her float away. "NO! YUNE! YUNE!" He looked down in sadness, with tears flowing as the universe was just about to explode as the rest of the remains of earth disappeared.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the blast but there was a sudden Green light inside space, hearing twinkling from nearby, seeing that on the inside was some unknown energy and suddenly covered him in Green energy tendrils to halt him, and forced him to watch a vision where the Mobian and Ken himself are suppose to destroy another world that was filled with Green field and towns, with him seeing it in horror until a bright light hit his left forearm, making him scream in pain until he was let go and put into some sort of portal of sorts, possibly sending him into the world on nonexistence.


	4. A Whole New World

_**In Fabula Nova Crystsallis  
><strong>__**  
><strong>__**400 AF**__**  
><strong>__**? - 12:52**_

Ken had his eyes closed for some unknown time, not feeling a thing inside the darkness until there was a flash of light, making him wake up to see him falling in the sky.

"W-What the-?!" He asked until he looked around to see him about to land on sand, face first. "Crap, crap, crap, cra-" He then landed in it, with his head now stuck in it while at the very same time some of the civilians from the area begun to crowd around him. "Somebody?! Anybody?!" His hands and legs were moving quickly as he moved, but them put them on the ground and begun to pull himself out, and succeeded in doing so before landing on his rear end and took a breather. "Phew...Jeez, that was one heck of a landing!" He starts shaking his head to get the sand off, then looked around to see multiple human begins around him, observing him as if he was somewhat unwanted. "Uh...Hi guys!" He begun to get up, causing some mothers to keep their children near them.

"Mommy, what is that thing?" One child asked.

"I don't know sweetie, I really don't." The mother said, with Ken then rubbing his quills to get more of the sand off while looking around.

"Looks like I'm not in my world anymore..." He said to himself, seeing he was in a small Coastal town near a shore, seeing all the small buildings and wooden bridges, then looked at them. "So anyway, what is this place?"

"How can you not know what this place is?" An elderly man asked scornfully. "You with Paragon or the same species on that cursed part of Pulse?" Hearing this put him in question.

"Pulse? Paragon?" Ken asked, then shrugged. "I haven't heard of those names until now. In fact, I'm not even from-" It was suddenly that they started screaming and running away, putting him into question. "Huh? What's going-" His question was answered by hearing a small mechanical roar, making him look to see a mechanical panther-like beasts covered in Silver and Green armor. "What in the...What are those things?!" They quickly took a quick scan onto him, seeing all of his stats.

"Enemy located. Target: Ken the Hedgehog." One of them said in a mechanical voice before they all roared, preparing him for a fight.

"Must be after me or something. Alright then, give me your best shot!" He said just as one of them leaped, but he suddenly disappeared in a flash, catching them off guard and scanning the area while some of the civilians took a peek to see the action, but all of their attention was put by the sound of a whistle. They all looked up to see him on top of a palm tree, looking down upon them. "Hey guys, I'm right here!" He quickly jumped down so he would officially fight them, with one of them leaping toward him for a straight kill but was suddenly destroyed by him punching through it, making it fall into scraps and wires, shocking everyone.

"Did-Did you see that?!" One civilain asked.

"He just wiped it out in one blow. Who-Who or what is this thing?" A female asked now, while Ken observed his fist since he know he never had that much power before.

_"Whoa...What happened? It's like I got a boost in strength, reaction and speed..." _He thought to himself but looked at the last two, then did a main hand gesture, taunting them to come to him. "Alright, come on! Let's see what you've got!" They released their battle roars, enhancing their speed and strength, and quickly leaped toward him once but was dodged by him flipping backwards, then suddenly jumping to do a Homing Attack on one of them, going through and destroying another one of them. He landed on the ground while the last one charged at him. "...And now you're finished!" He quickly grabbed his chains from pants and suddenly did a quick spin with it out, hitting and destroying the head of the last machine. "And that's it, you're done!"

He stared at the last machine, wanting to see if it would move, but it never did in which let him put up the chains and suddenly heard cheering, making him look to see their thoughts toward him turn from strangeness into praise. He blinked a bit in question, but then rubbed his quills while a rather large and overweight man came into the crowd and went over to him, which caught him off guard.

"Uh...Hi?" He said just before he was picked up with the mans large hands, which took him by surprise but he was then observed upon before being put down.

"...You are not from this world, are you?" He asked in wonder, with Ken shaking his head. "Let me explain: My name is Sir Hackward. I'm the mayor of New Bodhum in the Fabula Nova Crystallis. I'd like you to come with me."

"New Bodhum? Nova Crystallis?" Ken asked while looking around, then back at Hackward with a nod.

**_New Bodhum - Mayors House - Time: 13:01_**

"...So you really aren't from this world then." Hackward said while both him and Ken sat on a table full of Seafood. "I suppose that would explain you looks in general comparing to us humans on Gran Pulse, or in Fabula for that matter. Then...I must ask...What happened to your world then?" He looked down in thought, trying to remember until he did so in a flash, which pained him .

"It...It was destroyed. By some sort of being that looks a lot like me, and with some sort of giant lava rock monster." He begun to say.

"Giant lava rock monster?" Hackward asked in which put him in thought. "I suppose you're talking about the Pulse Fal'Cie, Titan. I guess that explains on its whereabouts recently. It disappeared for some reason. We considered it disappeared and died in some way, but I guess that's not the case here." He looked up at Ken and crossed his arms. "Anywho, please continue."

"Right..." He said quietly, remembering all the events. "All my friend...All my friends are gone, some of them really are dead. The ones who are, they could be sent somewhere else, dead, lost, or worse...I don't even know that...I wish I do!" He gripped his hand sadly, trying to dull the pain of losing all of the ones he loves, which made Hackward a bit sad an sympathetic, but then looked up at him. "Anyway...What were those things out there that I destroyed a bit ago? They couldn't be wild."

"Do you wish to know?" Hackward asked, with him nodding. "Those things have been terrorizing some of our towns lately, saying they're searching for some sort of species called a 'Mobian', or a Brown 'Hedgehog'." He looked at him, who had wide eyes. "And if I were to guess, that would be you." The shock was still in him, but it was lost after a bit.

"Is someone after me? Based on what you think?" He asked.

"I believe...It would be the being known as Paragon. He came around here since 296 AF, which is 296 after the fall of Cocoon and saved by its crystal pillar." Hackward said. "Based on all we've heard, he seems to look a little bit like you." Ken begun to think about what he meant by it, thinking about who he could be talking about until he remembered the Mobian that destroyed his home, making his eyes widen but quickly turned into hatred, which caught Hackward's attention. "Something wrong? Did you do something to him to get you on his wanted list?"

"No...I never did...But he's the one who destroyed my world." Ken said while gripping his fist tightly in pure rage. "It all makes sense. If he's looking for me, then he must have found a way to get to MY world and destroy it there! He must have figured out I was never here!" He started to grind his teeth a bit. "I really want him to pay for what he did...He destroyed everything I loved..."

"Young man, don't let revenge guide you." Hackward said, with Ken paying no mind. "I understand your emotions of complete anger, but will hurting him really solve much of anything? All you will be doing is satisfying your own emotions so it can all go away. What you will do will not bring back the ones you love..." He heard this, which made him slowly think and calm down. "I want you to do something for me; Don't fight against him for the sake or revenge, because that will put you into the wrong path like it always does, but do it for the right cause. Do it for the sake of what's right, not what's right for satisfying your hatred." He looked down in thought, knowing he's right, then got up slowly.

"I...I guess I need to look around this place. Get to know the area." He said, making Hackward nod a bit, then begun to walk out.

"But wait, I must ask you something...Just one last thing." Hackward asked, making Ken stop for a bit. "May I...Have your name?" He looked at him slowly.

"...Ken: Ken the Hedgehog: Ex-World Hero." He said and finally continued out of the rather large hut, and begun to look through the small town to see a bunch of shops around, weapons and all, along with some civilians with friends and family having a good time, which saddened him as he thought of all of his lost friends and family. He then saw a small group being led my a guide, with him staring at it. _"I guess it wouldn't hurt to join them..." _He slowly walked to them, blending into the crowd while some gave him a look but it faded away afterwards.

"...And that over there is the planet of Cocoon!" The female guide said while pointing, with them looking to see a large moon-like planet with a scarred opening on it and covered in crystal pieces while also being held up by a large metal beam. "This was the very place where the main six Pulse L'Cie saved from the leader of the Sanctum; Galenth Dysley, known as the Sanctum Fal'Cie, Bathandelus. A crystal pillar once held this might planet by the power of Oerba Dia Vanille and Oerba Yun Fang turning in Raganrok and crystal to keep it up. But in the year of 284 AF, Flan from the Sunleath Waterscape attempted to take it down, but it all ended in failure thanks to our military. Bless to Etro for those who died..." She did a hand signature where she closed her middle and index fingers and crossed them together, with everyone except Ken doing the same but he slowly did it anyway to gain some sort of trust. They all then finished. "Ok! Next place!" She and the others begun to keep moving, but he stared at Cocoon more.

"Held by a crystal pillar, huh?" He asked himself before following them once again, seeing them now stopping.

"And over there is our newest Cocoon, Cocoon II!" The guide said pointing as they looked at a large floating planet that looked like it was covered in technology. "Cocoon II is not also our location to where most of where people live and where our military is at, but it's also the home of our government. They make sure to do what's right for the people on Cocoon, Cocoon II, and those in Gran Pulse." They all continued, leaving him to stare at it for a while then continued.

**_Time: 14:32_**

"...And over here is the exhibit for those who saved the original Cocoon. Oerba Dia Vanille and Oerba Yun Fang." The guide said after they continued through it more and pointed at a large wall that has just a pedestal, as it showed Oerba Dia Vanille her in her crystal stasis, in a foetus position and had her hand look like she was holding someones, but there was no Fang in it. Seeing this made the guide a bit worried.

"Uh...Where is the one next to Vanille?" A man asked, with the guide rubbing her head in confusion.

"I-I don't know. P-Perhaps someone who keeps an eye on it took it for examining or something. It'll come back soon, it's gotta." She said before turning to them with a worried smile. "Anyway, this woman here is Oerba Dia Vanille, a girl who lived on Pulse and was in the War of Transgression, the very same one in which scarred Cocoon. She had no choice but to take part in the war, but in the end saved the world she scarred. Ironic, isn't it? Just be sure to not say anything harsh, she'll listen! Anyone in their stasis always do!" She continued on with the others following, but Ken decided to no longer follow and begun to observe her crystal stasis.  
><em><br>"A girl...Who saved the world, huh?"_ He thought to himself, staring at it until her crystal begun to slightly glimmer a bit, which caught him off guard before flashing, knocking him down. "W-What the..." Her crystal begun to shine in a rainbow color and she begun to slowly turn back to normal, starting with her head and begun to go down her body while her now naked body was covered in light, which took him back by her transformation but stared by the complete beauty by it. "Whoa...I've...Never seen something like this...Before..." The light then flashed and transformed into her boots, skirt, top, necklaces, beads, bracelets, and a forming rod with a antler-like top on it, just before she landed on the ground, sound asleep, with him running and crouching down so he could shake her. "H-Hey! Wake up! C'mon, wake up!" She slowly begun to stir, then woke up to see him quickly reacted by stepping back in fear, which caught him off guard.

"W-What are you?!" She asked in shock as she was about to take out her rod, making him shake his hands.

"Hey, hey, hey! Calm it! I'm a good guy! Don't worry!" Ken said as she slowly begun to calm down, staring at him before her eyes widened a bit and put her hand away from the rod. He sighed in relief. "Jeez, I thought you were literally about to whop me."

"I've...Never seen something like you before." She said before she slowly got up to sit on her knees. "What...Are you?"

"I'm...I'm a Mobian, I guess what you'd call a anthropomorphic animal of sorts." Ken said while looking at himself after sitting down as well, then back at her with a small smile. "You're...You're Oerba Dia Vanille, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." She said before tilting her head a bit childishly and put into question. "Who are you anyway?"

"I'm Ken, Ken the Hedgehog. It's nice to meet you Vanille." He said, smiling a bit more knowing he has someone to talk to. "You never did see things like me before in your life, huh?" She shook her head, having her pigtails swing a bit.

"Nope, not at all! You're the first I've ever met!" Vanille said. "Are you from a place far different from Gran Pulse?" He looked down a bit, thinking about his world, then back ta her with a nod.

"More or less a different world, yeah." He said before looking at the pedestal. "So...Your friend Fang's gone for some reason." Vanille looked at it as well, which caught her in surprise. "I heard that you could hear in your stasis." They then looked at each other. "You wonder why Fang's not around?"

"No, I don't." Vanille said while shaking her head. "Maybe she's out of it like I am. She's probably nearby if she is."

"Yeah...Based on what I saw, it's possible." Ken said, with Vanille realizing he witnessed her being reawakened and looked down a bit.

"I'm sorry if it caught you by surprise and seeing me-" She tried to say, but he shook his head.

"I barely saw a thing. Don't worry about it." He said with a smile, making her smile back until there was a large explosion in the distance.


	5. A New Curse

**_New Bodhum - Time: 14:37_**

"What was that?!" Ken asked as the explosion blew through the area, knocking back clouds and leave, catching them off guard. "Must have come from the main part of New Bodhum!"

"New Bodhum?" Vanille asked in question, but Ken got up.

"We need to get over there as fast as possible!" He said before he begun to run, with her then following into the main town. Once there, they see multiple soldiers from the military shooting at something, seeing a large metal behemoth; an Alpha Behemoth, which is Green and Silver armored and a large Green crest attached to their spine and head. It kept bursting through the area and knocking away soldiers into far distances with a charge, then once near the ones that was shooting, it did a quick swipe with its metal claw, either injuring or killing those in the attack. "What is that?!"

"It's an Behemoth! They usually ran around on Pulse before Cocoon's fall!" Vanille said until their attention was brought onto the sound of crying and running, seeing a small little girl holding a Red Carbuncle doll running to a soldier.

"D-Daddy! Wake up daddy! Wake up!" She said while holding his dead hand and the Alpha Behemoth slowly making it way to her and about to claw her, shocking them.

"WATCH OUT KID!" He yelled as he ran to her in the fastest speed possible and got in the way for the attack, until his left forearm suddenly glowed Dark Brown and making him flash Yellow, making him gain enough power to suddenly grab its claw. "You're not touching that KID!" He quickly pushed the Alpha Behemoth's claw away until his entire body glowed Ruby Red and suddenly punched it in the stomach, sending it back a distance on its side, in which shocked him and made him look at his glowing left forearm in wonder and disbelief. "What...What is this?"

"You just used magic and enhanced power!" Vanille said, running to his side while taking out her rod. "You must be a Sanctum or a Pulse L'Cie! That must mean I am too if I woke up!"

"A LA-WHAT?!" Ken yelled in question until the Alpha Behemoth slowly started to get up on all fours, roaring in anger. "H-Hey now! I didn't mean to punch you that hard!" The machine did not listen and begun to scan both him and Vanille.

"Targets: Ken the Hedgehog, and Oerba Dia Vanille. Obliterate targets as commanded." It said in a mechanical voice before roaring, making Ken sigh a bit.

"Oh man this is NOT good!" He said just before it charged at him, with him putting his hands together to form a guard but summoned out a gust of wind, doing the spell Aero instead, and hit it backwards a bit. "What's even going on here?!"

"Don't think about it too much! Just go with it!" Vanille said just before shooting a water spell at it, Water, and causing it to suddenly get sent back barely. "Just focus your powers into the kind of strength you want!"

"A-Alright!" He said as he suddenly flashed Red and quickly begun to punch the Alpha Behemoth as hard as he could to damage it, taking it back slightly so he would have the opening to overpower it, and took it as he then flashed Blue and shot out a simple blast of water, making it spark slightly just before he step back near Vanille. Once he did, they both formed the spell, Water, in their hands and prepared it. "Time to do a bit of dualcasting!" They both begun to shoot out as much of the Water spell as they could so it could be weakened while it sparked greatly.

"You're doing great!" She said with a smile as the two of them kept doing it, keeping the Alpha Behemoth sparking out more electricity. "You're getting good at this!"

"Thanks, rookie at this!" Ken said while the both of them kept shooting Water until they both finally begun to form Aero in their hands and quickly shot it out at it, which knocked it on its side while it tried to get up. "You're finished!" He quickly ran to it at a fast speed while he flashed Red, but not before it tried to sweep its claw at him after getting up, with him jumping at the last second and grabbed top of its crest. Once he grabbed onto it, the Alpha Behemoth quickly shook its head and begun to charge around to get him off, with him hanging on. "Hey! Stay down! I said, STAY!" He tried to aim his fist at its head to knock it down while Vanille begun to shoot Water at it, hoping to make it malfunction at some point but also did make it slow down a bit. "I said, STAY DOWN!"

He was finally able to punch it in the head, knocking its body down onto the ground, in which he flipped backwards to get away and near Vanille, watching it. After watching it for a while, they smiled and gave each other a high-five.

"Yeah, that's how we do it!" Vanille said with a smile, with Ken nodding until they saw the Alpha Behemoth getting up, got up on its hind legs, grabs the crest, and yanked it out to reveal a chainsaw-like sword from its back, which shocked him. "Oh yeah...That's right..."

"Oh GREAT! Up for a round two!" He said while flashing Blue. "Alright then, let's do-" The Alpha Behemoth suddenly ran to him and hit him with the backside of his hand, sending him back and not enough time to recover but was able to take some of it off by flashing Yellow and covering himself with the same colored aura, using his ability of Steelguard. It flashed away as he slouched down onto the ground but got back to run at it while Vanille attempted to dodge the chainsaw blade by stepping back and shooting Water, making it spark but it paid no mind as it then backhanded her onto the ground, knocking her down and attempted to slash her, which Ken saw. "HANG ON!"

He quickly ran in front of her and took the hit by using his Steelguard technique again, causing sparks to come out in between the both of them but he was slowly starting to become overpowered and losing his balance on it. The Alpha Behemoth had just a bit to go before finally getting through the defenses but was interrupted by a Red spear getting in the way, knocking them both away.

"What...What was..." Ken asked as Vanille begun to recover, seeing the spear itself and making her gasp a bit.

"I-It's-!" She was about to say until at that moment, a figure landed in front of them, with the Black hair and a Black mark on her right shoulder than revealed a mark that somewhat had the design of a Black mark on the middle and somewhat had branches to prepare arrows. "Fang!" She grabbed her spear, turned to them, and smiled.

"Looks like I made it just in time, eh?" She asked before looking at Ken in question. "And what are you suppose to be?" At that moment, the Alpha Behemoth slowly got up and yelled in rage.

"Let's talk about it later! Right now, we have THIS to deal with!" Ken said as the three of them prepared them selves by him and Vanille flashing Blue and begun to shoot more of the Water spell at them, with Fang helping in doing so by shooting a Black ball with a white outline, and once it hit impact it exploded in a White cloud but then imploded in a Black space, which impressed him. "Whoa, now THAT looked cool."

"Wanna try it yourself, huh?" Fang asked with a smirk while she kept shooting the spell, Ruin. "Just focus your magic without thinking of an element, you should be able to do it yourself!"

"Alright, I'll try it!" He said as the magic begun to overload the Alpha Behemoth until it was sparking heavily, staggering it greatly. "Time to test it out!" He stopped shooting Water at it and formed Ruin into his hand, then threw it hard enough to deal a critical hit onto it and making it fall, finally defeating it as it exploded, making it no longer working. He breathed heavily alongside Vanille.

"Sheesh...That took a while!" He said just before Vanille and Fang looked at each other and hugged tightly due to them being reunited.

"I'm so glad you're ok!" Vanille said before they released the hug. "Where were you all this time?"

"Well, you might find this a lil' weird, but after I was released from that stasis of mine, I felt some sort of energy that led me to somethin' for some odd reason. I figured I'd check it out, but then here I am." Fang said before pointing at the remains of the Alpha Behemoth. "I guess that's my answer, huh?"

"I guess so. It's weird that something like that would be after me twice." Ken said, with him then looking at Fang. "Anyway, to answer your question from before, my name's Ken; Ken the Hedgehog. I'm from...Well a world that's far different than this, that's for sure. With all that magic we did and stuff..." He looked at his left forearm, then uncovered his sportstape a bit to see a mark, a mark very similar to Fangs, with him looking at it. "You have the same mark as I do. What is that?" Fang looked at hers, seeing it.

"Yea', branded by some sort of Pulse Fal'Cie or somethin'. We're Pulse L'Cie again. Only question is what Fal'Cie would call on us. Our old one, good ol' Anima, is gone and was the only one to call on us again." Fang said, with Ken looking at Vanille.

"Same with you?" He asked, with her nodding and lifting up her skirt slightly to see it on her upper thigh, which took him by surprise to see it in that area of all places. "A-Ah...I see." He rubbed his quills a bit until he crossed his arms. "Alright then...Since I'm new to this world, mind if I ask you WHAT this 'La Sea' thing is or whatever?"

"It's L'Cie, but of course." Vanille said before putting her skirt down a bit to conceal the mark. "The L'Cie are those chosen by Fal'Cie to be given a focus, which could be anything."

"Yeah, that's right. There WAS two of each of those, Sanctum and Pulse. But since Eden was probably out for a while, they ain't around anymore." Fang said with her arms crossed. "Thing is, about a focus, that we have an option. Either complete it and turn into crystal and gain eternal life..."

"...Like you guys did." Ken said, with them nodding. "And what happens when you fail it?"

"Then... If your time runs out by the amount the Fal'Cie gave you, you turn into a Cie'th. A monster filled with hate and despair, and live with it for eternity." Vanille finished, causing his eyes to widen and sigh stressfully.

"Oh...Well ain't THAT just great!" He said before rubbing his quills again. "Ok...So what is it that your focus is? Maybe it could be a lot like mine."

"Ours, eh?" Fang asked while crossing her arms in thought until she remembered. "All I remember is me teamin' up with somethin' that looks an awful lot like ya to destroy some sort of world."

"I did too..." Vanille said before holding her own hands in a slight bit of worry, making Ken's eyes widened.

"Same with me..." He said until a thought came to his mind. "Wait..." He remembered the vision of his focus. "Yeah...I remember a certain detail in particular. Full of towns and something that looked like..." His eyes widened more as he stared at Cocoon now, with the both of them looking at it as well with the same expression. "...Cocoon...My god...That's it. Our focus is to help that guy named Paragon, who destroyed my home, destroy this world as well. But...Was it Titan that branded us?"

"Titan? What's he gotta do with anythin'?" Fang asked in question.

"He was there when my world was destroyed. He said it was a Pulse Fal'Cie...So maybe its remains called on me to become a...L'Cie, and maybe you as well. Its a possibility." Ken said while looking down sadly, knowing its what he has to do until he saw Light Blue glow within the ruins of the Alpha Behemoth, which caught his attention and walked to it. "What...Is that?" He looked through it, leaving both Vanille and Fang in question but walked over to see him pull something out from it., which shocked him entirely: The Light Blue Chaos Emerald. "Oh my god...It's a Chaos Emerald!"

"That was it, eh?" Fang asked while observing it. "I was wondering what that was. Is that somethin' of yours for your world?"

"Yes, it is! How did...How did it make it from my world to here? It must have transported over!" Ken said until a thought hit him. "Wait...If the Chaos Emerald never ceased to exist despite being...Then that must mean Yune's alive out there somewhere if she never died!" He gripped on it tightly. "She...Has to be..."

"I must say...I'm surprised to see you alive and well." A voice said, catching them off guard as they looked to see it was the Mobian that appeared in his world, now known as Paragon. "I'm amazed you somehow crossed over to this world, and that the Oerba's are out."

"That's him! In our focus!" Vanille said as they prepared themselves, while Ken only stared at him in anger, and her noticing the symbol on his chest. "He's also a Sanctum L'Cie too!"

"You're related to our focus ya pint sized oaf. What are you planning with destroying the world of this place and all that?" Fang asked, with Paragon shaking his head slowly.

"It is none of what you must know now to understand." He said as he took out something which shocked Ken more, the Red and White Chaos Emeralds.

_"More of them...Yeah...Yune HAS to be here if she never died." _He thought while biting his lip. "Why did you do it Paragon? Why did you destroy my world? I never once did anything to you, and you act like we've met! Tell me when we did!"

"...All of your questions will be answered soon enough. You will know the truth soon enough, and let time be the guide for it." Paragon said before closing his eyes and fading away in an Orange mist. "I will see you all when it comes the time."

"HEY! GET BACK HERE AND ANSWER MY QUESTION!" Ken yelled as he ran to him and attempted to grab him, but missed as it was too late to grab him, in which he got up. "Well...I guess we at least know now that the focus of ours really is real..." He then looked at them. "...We really have to do it, don't we?"

"Well...We don't have to!" Vanille said with a smile, with Fang doing the same.

"We could always ignore the blasted thing and use what our new Pulse Fal'Cie gave us against the little guy." She said. "Me and Vanille did it before with Lighting and the gang, we're willin' to do it again this time. No more of being afraid of being a Cie'th or being Raganrok or none of that. We're gonna do it for saving this world. 'Sides, there wouldn't be a point in turning into crystal if there's no world, now is there?" Ken stared at her in amazement, knowing she was willing to discard turning into a Cie'th to protect the world, with Vanille nodding.

"Let's do it to keep everyone's dreams alive!" Vanille said with a smile, with Ken looking at them and nodded.

"Alright...Let's do it. Let's use this power to stop Paragon from doing what our focus tells us to do!" He said with a small smile, then looked at the Chaos Emerald. "He had two of those, so if anything, he's probably after the rest of them."

"So that means we have to get them before he does!" Vanille said, with him nodding.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly." He said, keeping his eyes on it. "These things can repel and attract each other, so finding one will be easy."

"Well then, let's get those small rocks!" Fang said, with them nodding and just about to walk away.

"...Leaving, are you?" A voice asked as they looked to see it was Hackward. "So, Hedgehog, you plan to move on to do what you wish, do you?"

"...Yeah, that's right. I have to do something I...We need to do." Ken said while looking at both Fang and Vanille, then back at him. "I just hope you understand."

"Yes...I do. Have Etro guide you three in your journey." Hackward said as he put his index and middle fingers down and crossed his pinkie and index together, with them doing the same.

"Thanks. Alright, let's head out!" Ken said as they all ran out of New Bodhum to start their journey, while on top of a building, a shadowy Mobian watched him from this distance in complete hatred while holding the Yellow Chaos Emerald in hand.

"...Why did you leave me? You left me to die when it all begun...And now with all of our friends probably dead...You just up and make new ones to replace us...You'll pay for it...All of it." The Mobian said, revealing to be a teenage male, and walked away to follow him.


	6. Returning Place

**_? - Time: 17:21 _**

The three of them were now on a train, waiting for them to be stopping while Ken had the Light Blue Chaos Emerald in hand, waiting for some sort of flash to indicate they need to stop. He kept waiting until there was one as such, making him pull a rope in which made a ring, with the train finally stopping after a while.

"This seems to be our stop." He said as both Fang and Vanille got up and walked out once the door was open, with the two Oerba's seeing something in surprise; A large field of grass and mountains away from it was now has multiple towns around it, with Chocobo's, large birds that were like horses, carrying carriages and Long Gui, a large long dinosaur with a shell on its back and tusks, carrying stuff on its back. "Something wrong?"

"Well, if it isn't the ol' Archltye Steppe. Home on Pulse." Fang said with a small smile. "Never thought I'd see this place filled with all that."

"Times change I guess." Ken said before looking at the Chaos Emerald to see it shine, then back at the large amount of towns. "Let's try our luck in asking around the town. Maybe they saw one of them nearby. So just to makes things easier, I suggest we split up around the area, see if we can get anything."

"Sounds good to me!" Vanille said with a smile, and begun to make her way to one of them while waving at both him and Fang, making her way as they looked at each other.

"See ya when I find somethin'." Fang said before running off to go to another part, and Ken running off to another part of town, seeing it was smaller than the others but also had floating screens around the area.

"Alright...There's gotta be something about the Chaos Emeralds here..." He said to himself while talking through a small set of groups filled with people, then went over to a store and rung the bell, making a rather old yet skinny man come out from a set of curtains. "Hey!" The man looked at him, taken back by his species but quickly accepted it

"Howdy there little guy. I'd never seen your kind around here on these parts." He said with a small Southern accent. "What can I get ya?" Ken took out the Light Blue Chaos Emerald, which took the man by surprise. "Well I'll be damned to the god of Orphan! Where did ya get THAT?"

"You've seen something like this before?" He asked, but the old man shook his head.

"Nah ya little animal you. Nothin' like that. But good god that looks like something worth a fortune!" The old man said with a large smile on his face. "How much do ya want for it?"

"Uh...None really, nor was I wanting to sell it. I was just asking around if anyone found something that looked a lot like this." Ken said before putting it up, making the old man a bit sad. "Sorry to give your hopes up on that."

"Nah, it's fine...What are ya again?" He asked while staring at him.

"A Hedgehog. Ken the Hedghog." Ken said.

"Well then, Hedgy, you might try that jewlery shop right over there." The old man said, pointing at another store, with Ken looking. "Maybe you'll try your luck there."

"Thanks. I mean it, you've been a big help!" He said before heading to the jewelry store, while at the same time, to see a couple picking out two necklaces, which had Silver rings and had a small version of the original Cocoon on it, which were the objects for engagement in Fabula.

"Oh hon, I love it!" The female said before they kissed, with Ken looking down sadly as it reminded him of how it was with him and Gemstone and knowing she probably won't come back, but ignored this memory as the jewelry store owner looked at him a bit taken back but hid the surprise.

"H-Hello sir! Looking for something for your girl?" He asked, with Ken ignoring it to keep himself together a bit and taking out the Chaos Emerald for him to show. "Sell, hm?"

"No. I'm looking for something that looks very similar to this. Have you seen it?" Ken asked, with the owner nodding. "You do?! Can you show me?"

"But of course." He said as he showed them an large White diamond, but not a Chaos Emerald. "Is this what you're looking for?"

"No...But is there anymore?" Ken asked, with the owner shaking his head.

"I'm afraid not. This is all there is." He said, in which he looked down sadly.

"Alright...Thanks anyway." Ken said before going around the next part of the town, asking for any whereabouts of any of the Chaos Emeralds, but turned up nothing. Knowing this, he sighed deeply in stress. "Alright...Nothing here..." At that moment, he noticed both Fang and Vanille making their way to him. "Anything?"

"No...Nothing." Vanille said after doing a sad sigh, then looked up to him. "Are you sure it's here?"

"It's gotta be. Is there anywhere else we haven't checked?" Ken asked, with Fang them thinking a bit.

"Not sure if it's still there or not, but try Yaschas Massif. It's gotta be there." She said while walking away, about to leave them. "I'm going out of the town and see if it's out there. You two just look there."

"Alright." Ken said as he looked at Vanille. "Alright, let's go."

"Right!" She said as the two of them walked away, with Vanille leading the way for him since he did not know the area very well, as Fang went her separate way.

**_Yaschas Massif - Time: 18:21 _**

The two of them walked through a mountainous pathway, with Vanille leading the way until they made it through a light at the end of it.

"Looks like we made it!" She said as Ken made it as well, seeing the area filled with large cliffs, valleys and flowers that looked like it would bloom soon as trees, which caught him off guard.

"Wow...This place looks so beautiful..." He said in complete awe, then looked at her. "This place looks amazing. My world was never like this. Yeah, it had forests and all, but THIS... This is just hard to take my eyes off it." He kept staring at the sight before nodding. "Alright, let's find that Emerald." She nodded and the two of them walked slowly, searching around the area. "So being a L'Cie, is it really as bad as it sounds?" She begun to think about it for a bit.

"Hm...Well, a lot of people consider it a fate worse than death. Though seeing everyone else so happy...I'm guessing it just doesn't happen anymore." Vanille said while staring at the sky with a smile. "It's the kind of world I always wanted to see. All the years of being one were always so...So painful. Knowing I had to destroy." He looked at her in worry.

"It sounds like being one isn't that easy." He said.

"It isn't...But my last journey...Taught me so much." She said, making him stop to look at her. "That I shouldn't run away from being a L'Cie, or my friends..." She looked down sadly, knowing she probably hurt the ones she cared for, Lightning and the others. "And since then, I knew I have to take my role seriously. And that means to put all I love to do aside...Even own self." He looks at her sadly and in concern, looked down in thought for something, then back at her with a smile as he walked behind her and suddenly picked her up, which took her by surprise. "Ken? W-What are you-"

"Trust me. Just hand on tight. We'll be taking a bit of a detour." He said until he suddenly begun to run at his fastest speed possibly, not not fast enough to scare her, with her being scare a bit with it being sudden. "We're gonna have a bit of fun, something to get the edge off a bit! Just relax and enjoy it!" He kept running, with her gripping around his neck tightly while Gorgonnopsids, biological versions of the mechanical panther-like beasts. "Hang on!" He suddenly jumped and homing attacked through them, causing large amounts of speed and air time. Once he was in the air, he quickly sped onto the wall, in which Vanille's small bit of fear slowly diminished, finally able to enjoy the thrill ride.

She started yelling in thrill with a smile on her face as he kept running, but it ended shortly by them being near an edge to a bottomless valley, but Ken then looked around to see the other edge, making him smile a bit then looked at her.

"What do you say? Wanna try it?" He asked, with her nodding.

"Let's do it!" She said as he slowly back up a bit, then quickly ran and jumped off, leading them to fall into the dark pit but he formed Aero in his hand.

"Here we go!" He said before letting it go, making them blast through the valley and to the other side, with him landing and jumping from ruin to ruin spot until he finally made it to the other side. He landed and kept running with Vanille in hands, with them looking at each other and begun to laugh from all the thrill until he saw a Green sparkle on the ground inside ruins of an area. "There's something! Let's land and see it!" He jumped off and landed in the area so he could put her down, while she breathed heavily. "You alright?"

"Yeah...I'm fine! Let me catch my breath." She said, with her catching it for a while before looking at him with a smile as he rubbed his quills.

"Uh...Sorry for doing that without a notice." He said sheepishly. "I just figured...I'd help lighten the mood a bit. I mean, you had fun with it, right?" She nodded with a smile still. "Then I did my job. I thought maybe...I'd bring you into some of the fun you deserved to have after all that happened. What happened...It shouldn't change you completely into what you aren't. No matter what happens, just...Be yourself. All the way until the end." She crouched down to give him a quick hug, with him hugging back.

"Thank you...Thank you for thinking about me." Vanille said before getting back up to look at the glowing piece. "Wanna go get it now?"

"Definitely." Ken said with a nod as they made their way to it, and was about to grab it but it made a sudden shine, blinding them a bit. "Oh sheesh!"

"W-What was that?!" Vanille asked as the light faded away, leaving them in question until there was moaning, with them looking around to see two kinds of looks but the same being; Cie'th; a deformed being that had claws for hands, one kind being Black, Blue, and Purple with roughened crystals all over their body and having an Red eye symbol on it's chest, one of the Pulse, and the other being a Sanctum Cie'th; which had a smooth crystal body. "It's an army of Cie'th! They must have lived and survived after the fall of Cocoon!"

"THESE are Cie'th?!" Ken asked in shock, but then growled and prepared himself while Vanille took out her rod. "Alright then you freaks, bring it!" The Cie'th roared loudly as the Pulse shot out a large ball of fire, Fira, and attempted to hit them but they were able to step back far enough to dodge it, with Ken then countering by flashing Blue and shooting Aero and Water at it constantly with Vanille doing the same.

"They're weak against magic! Use it against them!" She said.

"Right, on it!" Ken said until a Sanctum Cie'th tried to attack him, but he flashed Yellow and then glowed Ruby Red, activating the ability 'Vendetta'. "C'mon! Give me your best shot!" The Cie'th roared while trying to overpower him, but ended in failure as he pushed it away and suddenly punched through it due to his enhanced power, knocking it down to the ground and faded away into darkness. "Yeah! That's how I do it!" He quickly turned to a Pulse Cie'th, prepared a spindash after flashing Red, and hit it in which caused him to fly backwards. "Focus on a different ones until we get the last one!" He flashed Blue and quickly threw the spells at it, hitting it rapidly until it ended up exploding into darkness.

"Alright!" Vanille said as she kept shooting Aero and Water at another as well, taking it down in which left the last Sanctum Cie'th. She quickly blasted as fast as possible at the very last one, with Ken landing and doing the same, overpowering it long enough to stagger it a bit, in which gave him enough time to flash Red to focus on his physical strength so he could do a quick spindash into it, crashing and going right through it.

"And...BOOM!" He said as he landed, with the Cie'th then disappearing, then giving them enough time to rest a bit. "How about that? That was easy!" He looked at her with a smile, then crossed his arms. "If this is all our journey WILL be, then it'll-"

"Watch out!" Vanille yelled, with Ken looking behind him to see a deformed Pulse Cie'th, a Wladislaus, a skinny one that has bones coming out of its back and out of its shoulders, but has only having one arm that wields a long sword.

"WHOA!" Ken yelled as he quickly dodged it at a fast speed, barely getting away but accidentally dropping the Chaos Emerald on the ground. "What is that?! A Cie'th?!"

"And Undying! Cie'th who wouldn't accept their fate as a Cie'th!" Vanille explained, preparing herself once again.

"Just when there wasn't enough! Alright then, bring it on!" Ken said as he flashed Blue and begun to shoot out Water and Aero once again since it's the only magic he's able to do and learned at the moment, alongside Vanille as it only just took it and did little to nothing to stop it. It only just stood there until it slowly charged up an energy within the blade, and suddenly did a slash to shoot out a wave of energy quickly at Vanille, catching his attention. "OH NO!" He quickly got in the way and flashed and glowed Yellow, taking the hit and half of the damage, weakening him.

"Hang on!" She said as she glowed Green, and attempted to use some sort of ability on him but the Wladislaus quickly ran to her and attempted to slash her quickly but ended up hitting her arm, making her fall to the ground in pain by the force, which shocked Ken. "I'm fine!" She quickly shot a Green orb on her arm, healing the wound slightly as the Cie'th was about to attack her but Ken quickly flashed Red and punched him as best as possible, catching its attention as countered the last punch with a slash, completely missing him but ended up pushing him back onto the ground.

"C-C'mon...Gotta...Keep going..." He said to himself as he stared at the Wladislaus starting to walk to him. _"There's no way I can beat it at this level of power, or without Fang. We might need to flee or SOMETHING." _He breathed heavily as he flashed Yellow, then was attacked by its sword only for it to be blocked by him flashing Yellow again to use his Steelguard ability to stop it. _"I just...Gotta keep going!" _He growled a bit in anger, then his eyes became more awake. "I won't die here! I've still got to deal something!" His left forearm began to glow Dark Brown once again and caused an explosion, sending the Wladislaus back a bit as he stared at it more, feeling a large increase of power. He slowly got up with a smirk. "Alright, let's go!"

He then formed a new spell in which he learned from instincts, Fire, and begun to shoot it quickly at the Wladuislaus with fireballs alongside another spell that shoots out a ball of ice crystals; Blizzard. Vanille begun to get up again to see it, but then helped once again by shooting out Aero, Water, Fire, and Blizzard as fast as she possibly could, starting to overpower it more and more until it got to the point of being staggered.

"Now's the time to end it!" Ken yelled before flashing Red, running up, and put a large amount of force into his fist onto the Wladuislaus's chin and sent it into the air, then jumped up high into the air and begun to pummel it harshly with his more enhanced power. "It's over for you!" He quickly punched as fast as he could before grabbing its chest to push him up in the air, then prepared a spindash quickly. "YOU'RE GONE!" He quickly slammed the attack onto it and smashed it into the ground, instantly making it explode into darkness as it sent him back onto the ground.

"Ken!" Vanille yelled as she ran over to him and got on her knees to help him up slightly. "Are you ok?" She looked at a few of his wounds and begun to heal them with her healing magic while looking at his left forearm, then unwrapped the sportstape a bit to look at his L'Cie mark, seeing the bottom part of it now having an arrow on it in the middle.

"Something wrong with it?" He asked before lookig at it. "...It changed. Why is that?"

"It entered a new stage." She explained. "A L'Cie has to complete a focus in a small amount of time. When more time is gone, the most it keeps going...It's on its second stage...Out of thirteen."

"So...That means we have to do it in a set amount of time before we turn to Cie'th...I see now." Ken said before getting up slightly and wrapped his forearm in the sportstape again. "I wonder what happened a bit ago...It just flashed on me for some unknown reason..."

"Maybe...The Fal'Cie that chose us wanted you to live?" She asked before looking at her L'Cie brand, seeing it's on the second stage as well. "At least you're alright! That's all that matters, right?" He looked at her with a nod and smile, with her then looking at him in question. "You said you wanted to deal with something, before. What was it? Was it defeating that thing named Paragon?" He looked down at his left forearm and picked up the Light Blue Chaos Emerald.

"...Yeah, it is...But it's not just for what's right though..." He said, staring at it. "Paragon...Was the one who destroyed my world, I know I said it before...But he took away more than that...My friends...My home...My...Life. The life I lived there." He gripped the Emerald tightly. "...I failed to protect it...And everything I loved and cared for in the world...It's not for revenge, not anymore...I want to defeat him, to make it all right. Make up for the mistake of being so weak...So weak to stop him..." Vanille stared down, full of sadness, with him then looking at her to see something else in her eyes as well; guilt. "Something wrong?" She quickly looked up and shook her head.

"It's nothing! Really...Nothing." She said with a smile, then looked at the Green object. "Anyway, let's get what we came for!" His eyes widened a bit, remembering why they were here.

"Oh yeah! That's right!" Ken said as they both made it to where the Green sparkle was at, with them seeing it wasn't a Chaos Emerald, but a Green gem instead. "Aw man...I thought that would be it one of the Emeralds..."

"Well, why not keep it anyway? Could help us for money when we need it!" She said, with him shrugging.

"Eh...Yeah, you're right." He said before picking it up and putting it in his backpack. "Let's head back to Fang, tell her we couldn't find anything." She nodded and the two of them started their way out, while the Mobian watching him just stood there watching.

"...He acts like he cares about us, but when he's with that girl he acts like nothing every happened...Like WE never existed in his life! Like our world never mattered..." He said while holding the Yellow Chaos Emerald.

"...He does not care for you no longer." A voice said, with the Mobian nod turning his head to know it's Paragon. "He no longer thinks of what happened to your world and what happened after all of it. Instead, he replaced his memories from there to here, starting anew. If you wish to heed my advice, give him the power of your pain from the past. How he left you to die...It is your choice to give him your power created by hatred..." He faded away in an Orange mist, while the Mobian stared at the Emerald now.

"...How could you forget about me...Forget about someone you cared for and saved on the streets? Forgot about...When you gave this to me on my...My day..." He said before walking away, hoping to follow Ken once again.


	7. Road to Home

**_Archltype Steppe - 19:17_**

Both Ken and Vanille made their way through the other side of the mountainous pathway, finally making their way out as he begun to stretch a bit.

"Thank goodness we're out of there!" He said while he stretched his legs before finally stopping. "C'mon, let's go find Fang." They both kept walking to one of the nearest towns, but when they were halfway through, Vanille's eye caught something, making her look.

"It's Fang!" She said, with Ken looking to see it was her making her way to them.

"Find anything?" He asked, but she shook her head.

"Nah, nothin'. It was worth a shot though." Fang said while staring at them and crossing her arms. "Anyway, my brand suddenly advanced by a stage myself." She pointed at her shoulder, showing it on its second stage. "Somethin' happen?"

"We were nearly overpowered by an 'Undying' Cie'th in the area, but we're fine now." Ken said before looking around. "Anyway, the Chaos Emerald's not in the Archlyte Steppe. We'll have to move on. It's gotta be NEAR here." He looked at Vanille. "Any other places we could try out?"

"Well...There's...Maybe..." She said as she looked at Fang. "...Oerba."

"Oerba?" Ken asked with her nodding. "...Oerba Dia Vanille and Yun Fang...I get it now! Oerba's your hometown!"

"Yea, that's right." Fang said. "Guess that means we're going there next. We just need to get through the Subterra, Sulyya Springs, and Taejin's Tower to get over there. Might take us a while on foot."

"Yeah, thing is, after what we went through, I barely have the strength to even RUN my way through it." Ken said as he sighed. "Guess that means we're taking things the easy way. Hitch a ride or something."

"Yeah, seems that way with you." Fang said while looking around. "Maybe we can hitch a ride on a Chocobo." Hearing this put him in question.

"Uh...Choco...Bo?" He asked until there was a chirp from behind him, making him look to see one but with long hair on the sides, surprising him. "Whoa there!" It moved its neck down and observed him then chirped happily and ran off to Vanille, leaving him in wonder as she petted it.

"Aww, aren't you just cute?" She asked, with it responding by a chirp and ran off, leaving them.

"Oh...THAT'S a Chocobo." Ken said while rubbing his quills. "Alright, let's get some for the trip. But first..." He took out the Green Gem, with it sparkling in the light. "...Mind if we stop somewhere quickly? I gotta thank someone."

"...Yea, sure. Just make it quick." Fang said, making him nod and led them to one of the towns, with him going to the old man's store.

"Hey! Old man!" Ken yelled, with the old man from within coming through the curtains to see him.

"If it ain't the lil' hedgehog, and back with some two fine ladies." He said, making both Fang and Vanille a bit uncomfortable, with Ken the coughing a bit to clear a bit of the tension and gave him the Gem, which surprised him. "IS this..."

"Yeah, as thanks for helping me out anyway." Ken said, with the old man picking up and staring at it before he started laughing wildly, making them concerned. "Uh...You alright?"

"Alright?! I'm BETTER than alright! This here will bring my real job back in business!" The old man said, making them question him.

"Your real job?" Vanille asked in wonder, which caught his attention and jumped over the table of the store, and also caught them off guard.

"Come with me! I got somethin' to show ya!" He said, with them walking away to the very back to the store, seeing a carriage with Chocobo's surprising them.

"Whoa, you're kiddin' me..." Fang said in surprise, making the old man jumped happily.

"Yep, that's right! I owned a travelers agency! I travel people ANYWHERE they want, and at ANYTIME!" He said before calming down with a smile. "Since you got me working back up again, I'll take you ANYWHERE; Free of charge!" The three looked at each other and smiled before looking back at him.

"Well, we're heading toward Oerba. Think you can take us there?" Ken asked.

"No problem! Just hop on and I'll take ya there!" The old man said with a smile.

"Appreciate it." Fang said as the three of them got on, and the man prepared the Chocobos before getting on.

"Alrighty! Go now!" He said as they started moving, heading to a cave while the Mobian only stared at him in the distance.

"...Our time of meeting will come soon...Just as Paragon predicted..." He said while taking off his right Black fingerless glove, revealing a Sanctum L'Cie brand on it's twelvth stage, nearly having the skull-like cymbol complete but had the top part of it not done yet.

**_Mah'habara Subterra - Time: 19:42_****_  
><em>**  
>The group was still within the carriage, which was still being riden by the old man, while staring at the outside to see a large set of underground tunnels within. They kept looking around until there was a large rumbling, making the carriage stop.<p>

"Huh? What's going on?" Ken asked while looking around, suddenly seeing a large orb-like being with Orange spikes all around drilling through the area, which caught him off guard. "What the- What WAS that?!"

"That was the Pulse Fal'Cie, Atomos." Vanille said with a smile. "He always likes digging around here."

"Really? Sheesh, the way you guys live around here are SO much more different than mine." Ken said just before he relaxed again. "So, what's your guys place like, or was like before? I mean, things might have changed." They both look at each other, then back to him.

"Well...It was all lushy and Green. But the last time...It was all gone, covered in snow." Vanille said, with Fang gripping her hand in support. "All we cared for were gone or dead." Ken stared at them in sympathy, understanding the feeling of it.

"So then, now it's your turn. What was YOUR world like?" Fang asked, which caught him off guard. "Ya heard me. What was yours like?" He was taken back by this, but smiled a bit the thought of everything.

"Alright, fair enough." He said. "My world was...It was FILLED with skyscrapers, tall buildings, and had a bunch of cars and people in it. Especially my friends...Comet, Stone, Gemstone, a little guy I thought of as my brother; Edge, and...My twin sister...Yune." Thinking about it made him sad but then sighed greatly. "But...I don't know if they're alive or not. I know Yune's caretaker; Ariel, Comet, and Gemstone are dead, but...What about Stone, Edge, and Yune? If the Chaos Emeralds made their way over here, them maybe...They're here too." He looks outside to the groundy tunnels. "Just...What is Paragon? And who is he?"

"What? Ol' Paragon?" THe old man asked, with them looking. "I heard a LOT of crazy stuff about that little guy. I hear he's a Sanctum L'Cie chosen by the last Sanctum Fal'Cie. What makes it even more weird is that he never turned into those Cie'th for some bonker reason! He became nothing but trouble since 296 AF! Little guy is nearly EVERYWHERE. Where's it's like, 'Paragon' THIS and 'Paragon' THAT. I swear, if I heard that little rascal ever again, it'll be the death of me!"

"A L'Cie never becoming a Cie'th?" Ken asked, then looked at them. "Ever heard of that before?"

"More like, been there done that, ya here?" Fang said, pointing at her shoulder that holds the L'Cie brand. "This thing here was frozen once upon a time, ya see? Wouldn't move or turn me. I dunno what woulda caused it, that Etro god or whatever."

"Yeah, maybe...But what if-" Ken tried to say until there was a large explosion nearby, knocking the carriage down on its side and hitting them on the inside. "O-Ow..." He shook his head and looked around to see them getting up. "You guys alright?!"

"Yeah, we're fine!" Vanille said as they got up and looked around to see the source of it.

"Just what in the world was THAT?" Fang asked as they looked still until there was a large machine that landed near them, revealing to be one with a long head, small legs, and large hands that were all covered in chains. "A Juggernaut! Never thought these things were still around!" She took out her spear while Vanille took out her rod and Ken sighing.

"Sheesh, everything is just coming in LEFT and RIGHT!" He said before taking a deep sigh, then prepared himself. "Alright, let's do it! Come on you hunk of metal!" The Juggernaut had its gars running quickly and begun to swing its arms around while fire came out, with both Ken and Fang flashing yellow, entering their Sentinel powers, and Ken glowed Yellow while Fang glowed White-Blue with sparkles, guarding through the attack while Vanille flashed Blue and cast Fire and Water on it as fast as possible. Once the attack stopped, Ken was left with a few burns while the ones on Fang went away by her power, Mediguard. "Whoa...Am I gonna learn that sooner or later?"

"You will in time Hedgehog!" Fang said with a smile, then suddenly flashed Red as she jumped and begun to swing her spear at it quickly, with Ken then flashing Blue just after recovering a bit and quickly shot out Aero and Fire at it with his fastest speed, knowing fire and wind would cause a reaction and a small explosion, hurting the Juggernaut as part of it begun to rust on him. "You two just keepin doin' what ya doin'! We're starting to get to it!" The machine suddenly opened a part of its head to reveal a large cannon, and shot it at Fang, sending her back with no time to react as she hit the ground.

"Fang!" Vanille yelled, which caught Ken's attention as he flashed Yellow and glowed Ruby Red to activate his Vendetta ability and got in front of her.

"Go heal her! I'll take care of this thing!" He yelled as the Juggernaut was about to shoot its cannon at him again while Vanille ran over to Fang, glowed Green, and begun to heal her until it shot a large ball attached to a chain hit him, causing him to yell in complete pain, which caught their attention. The ball went back while Ken was still up and defending weakly, but then gained a large Ruby Red aura, ran quickly toward it, and put all of the pain he stored into it into a single punch, creating a dent onto it. Once it was done, his aura went away and he landed on the ground in complete weakness, trying to get up while both Fang and Vanille looked at each other and nodded as their brands glowed, creating crystals near them, Fang's looking like a Purple pedal and Vanille's looking a bit like a Orange gem.

"Bahamut! Let's go!" Fang yelled as she grabbed her gem and threw it into the air, creating a large Purple portal above her and from it came out a humaonid Dragon-like machine that had sharp claw, then Vanille took hers and threw it in the ground.

"C'mon, Hecatoncheir!" She said as a circle formed around her, then mechanical arms came out of it and brought what was under it out, a mechanical man colored Green, Red, and Silver while it had multiple arms crossed in the front but on the shoulders held a large pad that held multiple arms. Ken slowly begun to get up but then looked to see the beings, putting him into surprise.

"What the...What are THOSE?!" He asked in shock, but both Bahamut and Hecatoncheir rushed toward the Juggernaut quickly and begun to attack it quickly, with Bahamut quickly slashing it with it's claws and Hecatoncheir stabbing quickly with its arms on the shoulder while Vanille shot out her magic at it and Fang running up and attacking it with her spear at a powerful and fast pace. He stared at it more before getting up slowly, flashed Blue, and shot out Aero and Fire as fast and much as he could, destroying the Juggernaut more and more until the two mechanical beings stepped back and begun to transform into something else completely.

"Let's do it!" Fang yelled as Bahamut's legs then formed a dragon head, arms in as wings came out, and then a part of it's legs at where his head was, forming a dragon, as it begun to fly and slash through it.

"Do it Hecatoncheir!" Vanille yelled as well, with its arms from the shoulder suddenly spinning and turning into machine guns, formed its entire body into a large body for the turrets, and begun to shoot rapidly at the Juggernaut along with shooting missiles. It's armor begun to deteriorate by all the power it's being hit by until s core was shown, with Ken then seeing is as he flashed Red, formed Ruin in his hands, then prepared to throw it.

"It's OVER!" He yelled as he threw a barrage of them at the core, weakening it more and more until it finally blew up, making the machine fall down in defeat. Seeing this made him breath heavily. "Phew...Man...Talk about close..." He looked at the two machine, just before they faded away with Fang and Vanille waving goodbye. "Just...What WERE those thing!?" They looked at him.

"Those are Eidolons. They help us as L'Cie." Vanille explained with a smile.

"Those things are given to us by being chosen. It's rare for any of us to get it, but it's for salvation when we're in a pinch. Physical or whatever." Fang finished, in which Ken looked at his left forearm.

"Given to L'Cie huh? Think I might get one myself?" He asked.

"It's a maybe, who knows?" Fang asked until they heard a small moaning, seeing its the old man starting to wake up a bit, with them helping him up alongside helping the carriage up.

"You alright old man?" Ken asked, with him nodding.

"Yeah, I'm fine Hedgehog. But man...That was one heck of an explosion." He said before shaking his head to the sight of the fallen Juggernaut. "Anyway, thanks for helping me there ya three. Still want what ride?"

"You-You're fine?" Vanille asked, with him nodding.

"Sure as hell girly. I'm keepin' my end of the bargin." The old man said, calming the Chocobo's that were scared and hiding behind the carriage. "Anyway, hop on and we'll get to Oerba in no time!"

"Thanks old man, I mean it!" Ken said as he was about to enter the Carriage, but saw something glowing in the Juggernauts none active body. "Hang on, give me a second!" He ran off to it, and begun to look through it until he found something within it; The Blue Chaos Emerald. "Holy...It was inside it the whole time?!" He picked it up with a smile, then ran back to them. "Guys, it was inside that thing the whole time!"

"Is that right?" Fang asked with a smile and crossing her arms. "I guess that lil' rock explains why it was harder to beat."

"Or why it attacked it us!" Vanille said as well. "Maybe it sensed ours and came to us for it!"

"Maybe, but hey, we got it now!" Ken said while smiling, then put it up. "Let's head out now!" They nodded, got on the carriage, and the old man made it keep going through the tunnels.

**_Sulyya Springs - Time: 21:31_**

The group kept waiting through the entire ride until they made it out of the tunnels, and made it into a large cave filled with waterfalls, plants, and had a very rocky pathway that was revealed by openings at the top, letting moonlight in since it was night now.

"Well guy, and gals, we're in the Sulyya Springs now! Next place to pass is Taejin's Tower and then to Oerba!" The old man said with a smile, while they all looked outside as it caught Ken off guard by its looks.

"Wow...This place looks so beautiful, especially in the night." He said with a smile, and looked at the openings to see Cocoon in the sky.

"Yeah, it is. But how about we get a bit of sleep? We got a ton more stuff to go through after this." Fang said while putting her staff near her, lied down with her arms crossed, and closed her eyes, with both him and Vanille looking at each other.

"Yeah, I guess she's right. You go on and sleep, I won't be too far behind..." Ken said, with her staring at him in a bit of worry but nodded as she lied down and closed her eyes as well, with him lying down and watched the ride.

**_Time: 23:08_**

He stayed awake the entire time, watching the ride while starting at Cocoon as well, with it making him think about his world.

_"That planet...And this world...It's so much more different...I like it and all but...It just doesn't...Compare to my home..." _He thought to himself but unknown to him, he begun to tear up a bit just by the thought of it, in which led to him crying a bit now.

"Ken? Are you alright?" A voice asked, with him looking to see Vanille awake, for it woke her up. "Is something wrong?"

"...No, it's...I miss them...A lot..." He said as he wiped them off. "I failed to protect everything, Vanille...But I know that...That I can make it right...It's just that it hurts a lot..." She stared at him sadly and gives him a comforting hug around his chest and neck while petting his quills.

"...What was your life like? From before? Before Paragon?" She asked, with him looking at her by looking up. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't wanna. I'll wait."

"It's fine...I can tell you..." He said before taking out the Light Blue Chaos Emerald, with them staring at it. "Well...I once had a father, who was a World Hero before me, a mother, and a twin sister. My parents died by the thanks of some guy named Eggman creating some sort of...Demon as they called him named Xiran. I was able to take him down, but I lost a friend by it; Comet. Me and Comet...We were best friends despite arguing at times. Me and him always did stupid stuff around the city to get his attention." He looked at the sky. "I wish he was alive...But his death...Influenced me to be who I really was. He was hardheaded, but he was always looking out for us." Hearing that made Vanille giggle a bit, making him look. "What?"

"Kinda reminds me somebody. His name...Was Snow." She said with a small smile. "Always going in first into a fight."

"Yeah, that sounds a bit like Comet to me." Ken said as well, then decided to continue. "There was Gemstone...She was always the emotional one, and always tried her best at anything. Edge...Edge was like my little brother, like he thought of me as a big brother. I found him when he was about to be killed...He didn't have a family at the time, and he was only five when I did. So, I cared for him. Stone...Oh man, Stone... He was once a soldier of Xiran and that's how he always lived until we met. We were enemies turned into friends. Yune..." He looked down sadly, thinking about her. "Yune was my only real family before I had them...Out of everything, she was the reason I kept going...But...Seeing the emeralds here...I wonder if she's here as well..." He looked at the sky again, aiming the Light Blue Chaos Emerald at it shined through it, with Vanille observing it.

"Can...I see it?" She asked, with him looking at her, nodded, and put it in her hands so she could see it, making her eyes glitter by seeing it and aimed it at the sky as well to see it. "What is this?"

"It's a Chaos Emerald. Something from my world." Ken explained. "They're jewels of unlimited power; Both that has positive and negative energies. There's seven of them. Get all of them together, and a miracle's suppose to happen. It can be used for multiple reasons though. I use it to stop any evil from destroying anything...But that didn't work out the last time." Vanille then looked at him in wonder.

"Could it...Get rid of our brands?" She asked, but shook his head.

"I dunno if it can do that kind of miracle. The most it can probably do is just bring someone back to life. I dunno about unbranding." He said before she handed the Emerald back to him, but then yawned about it. "Anyway...Thanks for listening, Vanille. I mean it." She smiled and nodded as he was about to lie his head on something but ended up putting it on her lap, which surprise them a bit. "O-Oh, sorry. I can get off if you-"

"No, it's alright." She said with a comforting smile, making him smile a bit and drift off to sleep, with her petting his quills gently but then looked at the sky sadly as the ride kept going.


	8. The Trials of Power and Discovery

**_Taejin's Tower - Time: 06:54_**

The sun was beginning to rise in the distance of the area of Taejin's Tower, with the shine of it getting into Ken's eyes, making him wake up slightly.

"Ugh...Morning already?" He asked until he looked to see he was sleeping on Vanille's lap the entire night, and looked at her sleeping to as it made him smile slightly but then slowly went back to sleep.

**"It iS yOu..."**

Hearing the demonic whispering instantly woke him up, with him looking around to see they're still in the carriage but everyone's now in a large canyon.

"What was...That?" He asked himself, but then looked at the old man that was still riding in the front. "Hey, is this Taejin's Tower?"

"Sure is, Hedgehog. We're near Oerba now." He said, with Ken nodding and decided to watch the tower in the area since he couldn't go back to sleep, but then stopped when he heard it again.

**"CoME and FaCE the TRial..."**

His eyes widened again and heard it was closer than before, making him wonder what it meant by a trial but kept staring at the tower while wondering.

"...Stop the carriage!" He said suddenly, with it slowly doing so before jumping off. "I'm gonna check out the tower. You stay here for us, will you?"

"Sure lil' guy. I ain't goin' nowhere." The old man said as Ken nodded and quickly ran to the tower, hearing the voices more and more.

"Just...What does it want with me?" Ken asked himself before he made it to the doors to the tower, slowly begun to open up, and entered inside as the voices got louder. "I don't get it, WHAT trial?!" He kept walking inside the mechanical hallways, and stopped to see the inside having multiple floors at the top, but the level he's on was the very bottom and had a destroyed circular elevator, along with three stone soldiers that had Lion-like face features, four horns on their head, and wield a large stone sword.

**"...It is you...The L'Cie." **They all said in the same voice and also clear now.

"'The' L'Cie? Am I suppose to be really special or something?" Ken asked while crossing his arms.

**"Are you truly the one from another world that will rid of the being known as Paragon?" **They asked, with him shrugging.

"To be honest, not even I know it." He said but then heard yelling in the distance, which later became more clearer as it sounded like Vanille and Fang.

"Ken? Are you here?" Vanille asked in the distance as both her and Fang finally made their way to where he is but is stopped by an invisible force.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Fang asked in anger as they begun to pound on the invisible force.

**"Do not intervene with the trial, Oerbas." **They all said, which surprise the two of them. **"There is no harm to be made in the place of Taejin's Tower. We only wish for him to take part in the Trial of the Menhirrim. A trial to test if he is the one we seek."**

"'The one you seek'?" Ken asked in question. "So, what, you want to just know if I'm the guy you're waiting for?"

**"Yes, that is correct." **They said. **"We have guarded this very tower for centuries upon centuries, and must know that we will put our trust into the one that will help defend our legacy within the tower." **Ken thought about it for a while, then looked at them and nodded.

"Alright, I'll do it." He said while stretching his arms a bit, then looked at Fang and Vanille with a smile. "Don't worry, it's all going to be ok!" He looked at the statues now. "How long will this take?"

**"The limit is five minutes. Fight for that long, and we will know if you are the one." **They said until the statues finally moved, wielding their swords at them while each and every separate one glowed either Red, Blue, and Grey.

"Alright, let's get this started!" Ken said as they all rushed to him and swung their stone swords at him, with him dodging them as quick as he could and eventually stood one on of their swords so he would run up, flash Red, and quickly punched one of them in the face, sending it back but another one tried to hit him as well, which did hit him and send him into a wall, but quickly recovered by landing on it. "It's go time now!" He quickly threw a barrage of Ruin at them, in which they quickly slashed over to destroy it and begun to swing their swords once again, making him run away from all of them while on the wall.

He kept running from them as quick as he could while flashing Blue and begun to throw his newest spell at them, Thunder, and hit them as much as he could. He kept doing this until one of them threw its sword at the wall, impaling it so it would stop him, but he reacted to this by running on it slightly and jumped away getting away from the barrage of attacks while it kept swinging and chasing him until they all went different directions to get to him. He kept running into he saw them on both sides and then one of them backhanded him, hitting him far enough to knock him off of the wall and onto the ground.

He quickly got up as they all rushed to him with their swords prepared, with him reacting by flashing Yellow but then glowed Ruby Red to activate his Vendetta ability, taking the damage as much as he could take it until he bursted an aura of the same color, ran onto one of the swords, and quickly punched one of them in the face, sending it back into a wall harshly as part of it then cracked. He then grabbed the sword handle, twirled around it, and flew into the sky while flashing Blue, and begun to throw multiple spells of Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard at them while they tried something new; Threw pieces of Earth created by them to counter his magic, causing them to break and turn them into small pebbles while those hit by fire turned into molten rocks.

The attack of flying elements still continued until he flashed Red and shot out Ruins, causing explosions to come around the area as bits and pieces of the tower begun to fall apart.

"Man, this is gettin' wild!" Fang said as both her and Vanille looked around in worry. "That limit outta hurry up! This place won't be lastin' for long!" At the same time, Ken saw the pieces of the tower coming down, and begun to jump from one piece to another to keep the Menhuirrim distracted on where he'll be landing but he finally got near another one of their faces, flashed Blue, and shot an Aero at it to not only damage it, but to help him get sent back up to do more magic at them rapidly. One of them finally begun to shoot more Earth at him while two of the others begun to fly toward him to attack, which caught him off guard and couldn't block it most of the damage at the very last second so he quickly tapped into using his Sentinel powers for Steelguard, and took the hit in which sent him down to the ground in a bit of pain.

He tried to get up from it but they rushed to him quickly and attempted to slash him with the stone swords, with him then flashing Blue, tapping into the power of a Ravenger, and used Aero to quickly blast his way out of the attack just in time to get out of the way, then quickly got up and shot out as many of the Fire spells as possibly, catching their attention as they rushed to him but he then flashed and glowed Yellow to then counter one of the swords by punching it, destroying it and then stopped the other two. He pushed them far away from him to give him enough space, and then flashed Blue so he could suddenly spindash while being covered in wind.

"Time to try something new out!" He said while charging up the attack. "Let's do it, GALESTRIKE!" He then released the spindash toward them, but it wasn't until that moment that the Menhurrim disappeared, leaving him to hit the wall instead, and slouch down backwards onto the ground slowly. "Uh...Did I...Win?" The invisible force that stopped Fang and Vanille faded away, leaving them to start running to him in concern.

"Are you alright?!" Vanille asked, with Ken nodding and flipped around back right-side up, and Fang patting his shoulder while crouching down.

"Ya did good Hedgehog. That's how a L'Cie should fight." She said as he smiled then looked at and walked to the Mehuirrim.

"So, what's the answer?" He asked.

**"It is true...You are the one from another world to stop Paragon." **They said. **"We are happy to know you are the one we can rely on. As thanks for your participation and surviving this far, we will answer any question you wish to have an answer upon." **The three looked at each other, then back at them.

"Yeah, one. Who is Paragon really? And what is he even planning?" Ken asked.

**"...Very well...It is done." **They said. **"Paragon is truly a descendant of the Sanctum Fal'Cie from Cocoon on the day of its fall, four hundred years ago. It is believed that they formed all of their strength to create what he is now. His motives are unknown, but if he is a Sanctum L'Cie, he must be following the goal of what they desire; The return the Maker back into this world, or to recreate a new Eden. It could be one of the two options." **The group looked at each other again.

"...He'll need the Chaos Emeralds to have the power to." Ken said while gripping his fists. "And with our brands, we're only given so little time..." He check his brand at that point then, seeing that a small mark was about to be made on the middle, showing it's in the third stage.

**"But now...We know that you are the one that will stop Paragon from redoing what was done four hundred years ago. He have faith in you, and your comrades from Oerba."**They all said until the whispering finally faded away, leaving the tower in complete silence. They waited more, but nothing came.

"...We're not gonna let him do this, are we?" Vanille asked, with them shaking their heads.

"Like hell we are! We're gonna give that little small fry what for!" Fang said while popping her fingers with a smirk.

"Yeah, we're not going to let him continue. Not by any means." Ken said as he took out the Light Blue Emerald, seeing another one isn't in the area. "One's not here, so we should just get to Oerba quickly." Both Vanille and Fang looked at each other, nodded, the three of them went back outside and to the carriage. "Hey! We're back!" THe old man looked like he was asleep but quickly woke up by the sound of them.

"H-Hey there ya three. Got what you came for?" He asked while they got on.

"Yeah, we did. Now let's head off to Oerba. We need to get there soon." Ken said, with the man nodding.

"I hear ya! Let's head on out!" He said as the carriage moved, while on top of one of the canyons, the Mobian was there still watching them from a distance.

"...You're near Oerba, are you?" He asked while staring at the Yellow Chaos Emerald. "...Soon enough...You and I will meet...And you'll understand on how much I hate you...Hate you for leaving them...And me with...With HIM!" He growled in anger and then followed them.


	9. Home of Lost Lives and Fights

**_Oerba - Time: 10:23_**

The group were still riding within the carriage to Oerba, while also seeing snow covering the mountains around the area.

"There's snow here. You said Oerba had snow all around, right?" Ken asked, with both Fang and Vanille nodding, along with him looking at them in concern. "That must mean we're close. So...Are you guys sure you're alright to see it again a second time?"

"Well we're gonna have to be, ya hear?" Fang said. "As much as it hurts us, we gotta get through it and find that rock we need."

"The Chaos Emerald...Right." Ken said until they finally go through the mountain region of it to see a small town covered in nothing but snow and ice on the small trailer-like homes, paths, a destroyed bridge, dying large trees, and multiple windmills, along with having little to no population. "O-Oh...It's...It's that bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. It's kinda weird though." Fang said, with him looking. "When I was coming back here with you and Vanille, I always thought that maybe it would be like it was before...But I guess it's time to stop lyin' to myself, eh?" He looked at Vanille now, seeing her staring at it sadly.

"Hey, Vanille...Are you ok?" Ken asked, but she nodded a bit.

"Yes...It just...Hurts..." She said while she formed a tear in her eye, which caught his attention and decided to hold her hand in support, catching her attention.

"It's alright...You're not alone anymore. We all lost our home." He said with a slight smile, with her smiling back until the carriage stop.

"Alrighty ya'll, we're here!" The old man said, with them getting off along with looking at the area closely, with Ken looking at the man.

"Thanks again old man. We really appreciate it." He said, making him smile.

"Not a problem lil' hedgehog. Happy to help ya!" The old man said before turning the carriage around with the help of the Chocobo's and made his way back, leaving them to look at Oerba.

"A'right, time to start lookin' for that rock." Fang said while Ken took out the Light Blue and Blue Chaos Emeralds, with them glowing brightly.

"It's reacting to one of them nearby. We should look around-" Ken said after walking a bit and looking up, making him step back to see a few Pulse Cie'th in the area. "...They're here too?"

"Yes...Even after the War of Transgression and the fall of Cocoon...They're always here, all because of us." Vanille said, making him shake his head sadly.

"Man...Why like this? I mean, we fail a focus and turn into this. But...Why is that? Out of all the punishments?" He asked while watching them.

"It's to match their sin...They're sin of failing as a L'Cie, and of their focus. That's why...That's why some do what they never wanted to do, so they wouldn't become something filled with so much regret..." Vanille said, making Ken uncover his sportstape on his left forearm to see his brand, now on its fourth stage, for it added arrow on the middle now. He shook his head a bit.

"Well, might as well search for the Emerald now. Since it's so small, it shouldn't be too much of a problem." He said while looking at the Cie'th. "We'll just have to fight and avoid through them as best as we can." Vanille looked around a bit until she noticed something unusual, a schoolhouse that held a a garden as well, was surrounded by Cie'th, skinny ones though with Orange fingertips, Ghouls.

"Hey, what about over there? They're crowding around something!" She said, with them looking.

"Yea, you're right! But I wonder what?" Fang asked.

"I dunno, but I'm betting everything I have that it's a Chaos Emerald!" Ken said as he quickly ran as he could to the schoolhouse, catching them off guard.

"H-Hey! Wait!" Vanille said childishly as she and Fang chased after him so they could keep up with him while he jumped over a metal fence, and ran through the snow to a pair of stairs leading up to the building. "He's not slowing down for us!"

"Hey, can ya blame the lil' guy?" Fang asked as Ken went upstairs to the guarden, snuck behind them to see a Green Chaos Emerald on the ground.

_"It is...Now to just get it. This'll be easy." _He thought before looking downstairs to see them catching up, making him put his finger over his mouth to signify they need to be silent, then looks at the Cie'th and whistles to them, catching their attention as they turned to him. "Hey! Over here!" They screeched and begun moving to him, with him then suddenly jumping and hit a bunch of homing attacks at them, easily defeating and knocking them down into darkness, and then landed and got up to look at the Emerald. "Well...That really WAS easy." He walked over and picked it up, seeing it glow while both Fang and Vanille went up to see it.

"Well whaddaya know. Looks like it wasn't that much of a problem gettin' it, eh?" Fang asked with a smirk, with him doing the same.

"Definitely, now it's time to go looking for the next-" Ken tried to say until there was a shard of ice stabbed into it, catching their attention until it near instantly grew. "WATCH OUT!" Both him and Fang quickly grabbed Vanille before flashing Yellow and glowed in a Clear color for a quick second, activating their new ability;Element Guard, and sent them back into a wall, taking some damage but none on Vanille.

"Vanille! Are ya alright?" Fang asked, but Vanille slowly begun to recover and nodded.

"I-I'm fine!" She said before getting and helping them up, then looked at the blast of the area, now covered in a large piece of ice. "What...What even happened?"

"I'm surprised you survived the attack...It shows you've grown stronger..." A voice said as they then looked at the tip of the piece of ice, seeing it's Paragon himself, making them prepared.

"Paragon...I should've known!" Ken said in anger as Paragon slowly begun to slowly descend to the ground, then landed with his arms crossed.

"We meet again, Ken the Hedgehog. I see you are now use to the power of a L'Cie." Paragon said before closing his eyes. "How does it feel for you? The pure strength of power but given so little time?"

"...We know who you are now, Paragon." Ken said, making his eyes open. "You were created by the Sanctum Fal'Cie just before they all died on Cocoon since 0 AF, and given the focus of wanting you to bring back something like Eden, the government that Bathandelus controlled to use the other Fal'Cie to bring back the Maker. You...You were given the focus to complete that, weren't you? Rebuild something similar to that!" He stayed silent but then uncrossed his arms.

"...Yes, that is correct." He said, taking out the Red and White Chaos Emeralds. "You see...I needed these jewels to be able to complete that Focus, and so, I found your world with help of an outside source...And I will do whatever it takes to do finish it, and the first objective...Is to kill you most of all, Ken the Hedgehog." His hands suddenly sharpened and now being covered in a Orange aura, ready to use his fullest L'Cie powers, with them doing the same.

"No way are you gonna do this!" Vanille said while taking out her rod.

"You and your plan ain't coming through! Not with us around!" Fang said, preparing herself by taking out her spear, while Ken gripped his fists in a bit of anger, looking down then back at Paragon.

"Tell me why then! Tell me why you even want me dead?! Why you say that you and I met?!" He asked, but he only shook his head instead.

"You truly don't know, do you?" He asks until he prepared himself. "I suppose it's a lost cause now...Oh well..." He then stared at them and suddenly flashed and tried to claw them with his powers focused on physical strength, with both Ken and Fang getting in front of Vanille by using Steelguard, taking most of the damage in which hurt them greatly, but he then jumped back far enough to then suddenly shoot the most enhanced fire spell at them, Firaga.

"Watch out!" Vanille yelled just before they got out of the way, with her then shooting Blizzards at him while he countered it with more Firagas, starting to lose more and more space of doing it until Ken begun to help her by shooting more of them by her side, helping it slow down slightly so she could slowly get out of the range, with them then suddenly jumping away and sent back by the blast, knocking them down while Ken covered her with his Element Guard. She quickly got up and shook him. "Ken! Are you alright?" He begun to get up, then looked at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine! No need to worry about me!" He said while Fang ran up to Paragon and tried to slash him with her spear, but he quickly countered them by hitting where she tried to attack with his backhand, and kept doing the clashes until he grabbed it, making her try to make him let go.

"Let go of it you lil' oaf!" She yelled until he formed Blizzaga in his hands, and attempted to put his hands on her to freeze her but she quickly flashed Yellow, then glowed Clear, slowing down the process of the ice overcoming her, buying her enough to for both Vanille and Ken to see it.

"No! Hang on Fang!" Ken yelled as he ran to Paragon, flashed Blue, and covered himself in Fire, and quickly did a spindash at him, hitting the ice that begun to cover Fang in which made it break, saving and not harming her, but it was suddenly countered by Paragon suddenly shooting the Blizzaga at him, sending him into a wall. He was shocked by the attack, but then begun to slouch down onto the ground in pain, with Paragon about to walk over to him but is then slashed in the Fang, but it did little to no damage to him as he then looked at her, then suddenly formed a large Ruin in his hands, then threw it at her, causing a big explosion and sending her back into the large ice crystal.

"Fang!" Vanille yelled as she was about to summon her crystal to summon Hecatoncheir, but Paragon suddenly flashed in front of her, catching her offguard and shot a Thunder on him instead, doing little to nothing.

"You've done well to make it this far, but I'm afraid this is the end of your journey." He said before turning around and aimed a Thundaga at Ken, who was slowly beginning to recover. "Say farewell to live, Ken the Hedgehog." Hearing that made his anger, and determination, rise and activated his Sentinel abilities and guarded against the Thundaga with it, harming and making him yell.

"N-NO!" Vanille yelled while there was a gust of smoke, until it showed something getting up from within, showing it was Ken the Hedgehog himself; Still standing and alive, making her smile happily. "Y-You're ok!"

"You...Survived?" Paragon asked in a bit of surprise, then Ken suddenly glowed White-Blue with sparkles, using his newest ability 'Mediguard'.

"I'm NOT going to die until YOU'RE dealt with!" He said, while unknown to Paragon, he aimed his eyes at Vanille then to Fang, translating for her to heal her, with Vanille nodding and running over to Fang while Paragon begun to attack him quickly and filled with power, but didn't get through the guard. Ken kept guarding while a Dark Brown Aura begun to form around him, enhancing his powers quickly until he counterattacked by throwing a punch at Paragon, who countered it with a punch as well, causing a blow of power to come out of each other. "I'm not GIVING UP!" He yelled and threw another punch at him, but was suddenly countered by being hit by a blast on power, knocking him down onto the ground, but slowly begun to get up.

"So...You truly are not giving up, are you?" Paragon asked, while Ken looked up to and got back up. "Very well...If that the preemptive strike would not work and attacking you now will not kill you, then it appears I will have to retreat now...And find a way to kill you...Some other way..." He looked behind him to see Fang slowly walking over in pain while being healed by Vanille, but begun to recover and walking normally. "But...Before I leave you all here...I will show you all something for surviving this long...A vision of all you will need to know..."

He formed a bright light in his hands and then threw it into the air, creating a Green portal that showed visions of certain times. In the year of 0 AF, the day and year in which Cocoon was saved, it showed an Orange light landing in the soil of Gran Pulse, then turned into a fog coming out of the ground, signifying the birth of Paragon. Then to a vision of the future, with the metal beams in which support Cocoon now being destroyed, and crashing into Gran Pulse, causing an explosion in Oerba, Taejin's Tower, and the Archltype Steppe, which shocked them.

"W-What? That can't be right! That's freakin' insane!" Fang said in anger, then looked at Paragon. "What kinda prank are ya pullin'?!" He looked at her, then at everyone else.

"...It will be because of you, the Pulse L'Cie. And soon your actions that you plan to do will lead to this." He said, with another vision now being shown, showing the Purple Chaos Emerald being in a Light Blueish forest that was created by lights from the area, the very same one that connects to the metal beams. "..The Chaos Emerald is now in the Sunleth Waterscape. If you truly wish to continue what you are doing, I advise you collect it before I do myself." He slowly disappeared into a Orange mist, with Ken wanting to stop him but couldn't as the shock devastated him.

"We...We're the cause of Cocoon falling in the future?" He asked, with Fang and Vanille walking over to him. "Are we...REALLY the cause of it? Will we cause thousands of lives?"

"...Nah, it couldn't be true." Fang said, with them looking. "It's probably a trick or somethin' like that! Trust me, that Paragon guy ain't the only one that can manipulate. Barthandelus did it himself as well. What he's saying doesn't scare me." She looked at Vanille. "Remember?"

"Y-Yeah! That's right!" She said. "We can't let him scare us like that! Let's get the next one!" Ken then stared at her, debating on what to think but nodded.

"Yeah...You're right. Let's just get the next Chaos Emerald before Paragon does!" He said before the looked at Cocoon, with Vanille whining a bit.

"But we've gotta find a way over there! We don't have a lot of time!" She said, making Ken remember that he holds three Chaos Emeralds.

"...There's a way!" He said, with them looking. "In my world, when we have a Chaos Emerald, we can use Chaos Control! It's to help us warp time and space to get to a certain location. Thing is...I can only go so far with three. So if we use it, we can get to the nearest part on Cocoon that leads to Sunleth, and work around there!" Hearing this made Fang a bit skeptical.

"...Now, are ya SURE that it'll work?" She asked, but he shook his head.

"No, but we gotta try something." He said, then looked at all of them. "...Are you with me on this?" Vanille nodded happily then looked at Fang.

"We've GOTTA try it! It's the only way!" She said while Fang still thought about it, but then nodded slightly.

"Alright girls, grab onto me so we can warp over there!" Ken said as they grabbed his shoulders while he took out the Green, Blue, and Light Blue Chaos Emeralds. "...Chaos...CONTROL!" They suddenly warped in a flash of light, leaving the area while the Mobian stared at where they were in the distance.

"...Onto the Sunleth Waterscape? Perfect then...It'll be the truest place we will see each other again..." He said while looking at the Yellow Chaos Emerald, which shined brightly to reveal who it really was; A Teenage Edge, for he now had a scar over his right eye and now wore Black robes, pants, boots, and gloves with a Grey undershirt. He removed his right gloves to see his Sanctum L'Cie brand just about to enter its thirteenth stage. "...You'll understand how I truly feel...Soon enough..." He morphed his power of a L'Cie with the Chaos Emerald and Chaos Controlled out of the area and to the Sunleth Waterscape, hoping to end something between him and Ken.


	10. Death Wishes

**_Cocoon_**  
><span><em><strong>Gapra Whitewood - Time: 11:02<strong>_

Inside the area, was a large mechanical forest that was filled with crystals, and now snow due to the fall of Cocoon. In the middle of it, a flash appeared, leaving Ken, Vanille, and Fang there as they landed on one of the mechanical tree limbs, looking around.

"Whoa...What is this place?" Ken asked while he kept looking. "Any one of you been here before?"

"Nah, never did before." Fang said before looking at Vanille. "Did ya?"

"No, I never have." She said. "But I think...Maybe this is the Gapra Whitewood. A place where the Sanctum tested some...Things." They all looked around, seeing one of the panther-like animals half machine, lying there dead and covered in snow.

"...Where they tested experiments on those things..." Ken finished, then sighed in stress. "Man...Just what were those guys in Eden thinking? Turning animals like that into weapons? That's just...Screwed up." He decided to let that topic be and took out the Chaos Emeralds, letting them glow brightly by a reaction of one nearby. "Thanks to having these three, they'll sense farther. So all we've got to do is keep following through the path and we'll get to Sunleath in no time."

"It's connected to the Vile Peaks." Vanille said, with them looking. "We went there before with me and...A friend of ours on our last journey. This place might lead us there."

"Alright, so once we pass through here, we'll let you lead the way through your way of the Vile Peaks to Sunleth." Ken said while stretching, then prepared to run. "Alright guys, let's head on out!" He quickly ran with them following the best they could, running through the snowy mechanical branches and leaves to get to the Vile Peaks, while also looking to see inside the deep snow that there were also old beat up machines, destroyed Sanctum airships, and transmutated animals that are still either dead and no longer work. "This place is really looking like more of a haunted forest than just an abandoned one."

"I hear that." Fang said. "But look at it this way Hedgehog: If none of those things are workin', then nothin's stoppin' us!"

"Yeah, which is FINE by me!" Ken said with a smile as they kept running through the area, in which they eventually made their way through the exit, which was a secret enterance and took them multiple hours to get through the area, with no encounters of Cie'th, the failed experiments, or any of the robots.

**_The Vile Peaks - 19:39_**

The three of them ran through a large underground tunnel that lead them to some area they don't know as of yet.

"Ugh, man! Will this tunnel ever end?!" Ken asked in slight bit of anger until there was a slight bit of light at the end of it, putting his anger to rest until they finally made it through, into the Vile Peaks, which was a large junkyard-like area that has mountains made of metal scrap, and the area was covered in snow and crystals now, indicating the crystal pillar is somewhat near, while it was also entering night. "Whoa..." He looked around a bit. "This it Vanille?"

"Yep! This is the Vile Peaks!" She said with a smile and looking around, which made it fade away a bit. "It looks so much different than it did before...It's sad to me...There's nothing moving or anything..."

"Nothing? Well, if it's robots or whatever, then I think it's fine by me." Ken said with a smile, then looked at Vanille to see her sad expression, with him realizing that she meant that a lot has changed for her since those times and she misses out on all of the changes, making him a bit sad. "Anyway, we should keep go-"

"Actually, maybe we outta rest up a bit before movin' on." Fang said, which surprised him. "I'm not one to really rest on all this, but I just thought it'd be needed if we wanna keep our strength up." Hearing this made him a bit iffy on it.

"Eh...I don't know...Should we? I mean, we only have a small amount of time." Ken said, making Fang stare at him and then crouched down to him, making him a bit worried.

"...Lemme see your brand." She said, with him then taking off parts of his sportstape on his left forearm to see it still in its fourth stage, making her nod and stand up. "Yea, we're a'right. We're only gonna be restin' for just a few hours or so."

"Well, if we're going to...Then I'll take the watch for you guys, just in case something comes by." Ken said while fixing his sportstape, then sat down on a piece of junk.

"You sure about that?" Fang asked, with him nodding. "Well...A'right then." She looked at Vanille. "Vanille, c'mon. Get some rest." She slowly looked at Fang to nod at her, then walked over while keeping her eyes on Ken, but then left him to sit there while they begun to lie on the ground covered with a small bit of snow so they would rest.

**_Time: 21:01_**

Ken was still awake, facing away from where Fang and Vanille were sleeping for a while, staring at the sky filled with clouds that made more snow while having the Light Blue Chaos Emerald out.

_"...Are you out there? Are you guys really out there? Stone? Edge? Yune? Anyone of you?" _He thought while he kept his stare. _"One of you have got to be out there...You've got to be...I want an answer to know I'm right...Or SOMETHING." _He then stared at the Emerald once again, thinking about it more while Vanille, who was still lying there, didn't sleep the entire time and only let her thoughts keep her up, but then got up to walk to Ken, which caught his attention. "Couldn't sleep?"

"No...I wasn't tired." She said while looking down. "It's that vision...It's kept me up the whole time. I kept thinking...If it real, and if we are the ones that will knock down Cocoon."

"...Nah, it's like Fang said, he's probably yanking our chain!" Ken said while looking at her with a smirk. "I wouldn't worry about it too much." She looked up at him.

"...And if it is?" She asked.

"If it does happen, I'll make sure it doesn't. Those beams aren't going anywhere else. I promise you that, for both you and Fang." Ken said while he looked back at the Chaos Emerald, then his smile slowly begun to fade away by looking at where his brand is now before closing his eyes painfully. He looked at her at that moment after. "...Give me your hand. I want to give you something." She was a bit worried but did it anyway, with him putting the Light Blue Chaos Emerald in her hand, surprising her. "In case...In case something happens to me, or I become a Cie'th, I want you to have it. Soemthing to remember me by...Because I know that a person like you would remember...ANY friend. Like your friends Lightning, Snow and everyone else." She shook her head.

"Nothing's gonig to happen to you! Don't talk about that stuff like that..." Vanille said, with him shaking his head.

"I'm not sure if it will happen or not...But, I'd like you...To have it anyway. I know that...You're one of those that care about people, even those who are not from this world." He said while looking down. "...So I guess think of it as a memoir of me when it happens...Ok?" He smiled at her and then turned to keep an eye on things, while Vanille had the feelings of regret and sadness and showed it by looking down, but also saw one of her beaded necklaces. She took off one of them that had Brown and Orange beads, then moved his quills to put it on him around his neck, which he felt and was put into surprise.

"...Then I want you to have this." She said, making him look at her. "...For the same reason you are." He felt a small bit of sadness knowing that she's doing this, but then realized the pain of what he did inflicting her, making him look at her.

"...I see you did this as well so you know we'll both make it." Ken said, with her nodding. "Ah...Well then, let's promise we both won't turn into Cie'th or die. That way, we'll both know we'll survive." She smiled a bit, but it quickly faded away with tears starting to form, but quickly did something about it by crouching down and hugged him tightly, which surprised him.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." She said, with him becoming sad himself and begun to hug her tightly as well while petting her head in comfort.

"...It's ok...I'm sorry too..." He said as they kept hugging, with Vanille knowing and thinking she has no idea of what she means, and they quickly broke it. "C'mon...Get some sleep. You'll be needing it." She slowly nodded with a smile, and walked back to where she was, making him smile and look at the sky again. _"Though...I guess I do learn some stuff here...No matter what you're dealing with...Always know that even when it seems bad...You know you'll make it...For the ones you care...And I guess...Love." _He stared at the sky again peacefully, while also on his watch.

**_Time: 0:26_****  
><strong>  
>Ken was still on his watch, waiting and observing the area he's in until he heard two footsteps coming behind him, making him look to see both Fang and Vanille now awake and making their way to him.<p>

"Hey there girls. All rested up?" He asked, with them nodding. "Alright then. Vanille, you ready to lead us the way over!"

"Yep! All ready!" She said before running off suddenly and laughing a bit. "Ciao!"

"Hey! Wait a minute! I wasn't ready yet myself!" Ken said as he ran after her while laughing a bit, making Fang smile and shake her head.

"Even as a L'Cie, they're acting like a bunch of kids." She said before running off to catch up to them, seeing Ken chasing after her now.

"That was a real dirty trick leaving us there! How about slowing down?" He asked while he kept laughing, with her shaking her head.

"Come on slowpokes! You better hurry!" She said while they all ran through the area of the Vile Peaks, with no machines or robots in the way of their run. They ran through parts of the ruins, from bridges created by scrap, climbing over areas that were once blocked off but deteriorated due to time, and through old underground tunnels that led them to the Waterscape.

"Sheesh, you're not giving up, are you?!" Ken asked, but she suddenly stopped in surprise of something, making them stop while he laughed. "Hey, come on! You quit now?" He noticed her expression and then looked at what she was looking at, which surprised him and then Fang.

"...Well holy hell." She said as they all stared at it; A large army of Flans, giant Red Oozes that looked like a tomato but with goopy arms and mouths, near a large metal gate that stopped them. "Well, looks like we're not headin' that way."

"But that's the only way through!" Vanille said with a small pout, while Ken then looked around to see at the top of the now partially destroyed tunnel, seeing an old and run down Juggernaut. Seeing it makes him wonder if something will work, but then forms Ruin into his hands and throws it, catching them off guard. "What're you doing?!"

"Trust me on this!" He said as the Ruin hit the top, knocking parts of it down and taking the Juggernaut down, but still did nothing. He quickly ran over to it, then looked around it to see if he could make it work. "C'mon...What's wrong with it?" Both Vanille and Fang only watched him until he found something, opening a part from the behind to see an old power source out. "Here we go! It's just out of power! But how will..." He then got an idea, took out the Green Chaos Emerald, and took out an old circular battery that was its source of power but then replaced it with the emerald. "Come on...Work..."

The lights on the front then lit up, indicating its working again, and suddenly shot steam from the front as well.

"Yeah! WOOT!" Ken yelled before getting on top of it, and banged its head a bit. "Come on big guy! Let's knock down that gate!" It slowly begun to move, which caught the Flans attention as they roared and made their way to him, but the controlled Juggernaut paid no mind to them and quickly shot out fire while swinging its arms, burning and destroying them in its way. Once it made it to the gate, the Juggernaut then swung its fist to knock down the gate, doing it and creating a path to the Sunleath Waterscape.

"Well whaddayaknow! Worked like he wanted it to!" Fang said as both her and Vanille ran to Ken, who was getting off of the Juggernaut and took the Chaos Emerald out of its source of power, deactivating it.

"Thanks big guy. You've been a big help." Ken said, patting its head, then looked at Vanille. "Alright, let's head out!" They nodded and Vanille then ran off again, leading them to the Sunleth Waterscape with them following, hoping to get there before Paragon.


	11. Wind vs Thunder: The Fight of Two L'Cie

**_Sunleth Waterscape - Time: 9:46  
><em>**  
>Vanille led both Ken and Fang the way to the area, now officially entering it.<p>

"We're here!" She said with a smile while they both looked around, seeing it's full of the Bright Bluish color, having large berries that emitted the light within the now dark jungle, due to the large trees now covering it and held the berries, but also had vines with the same colored lights on it, and held a large amount of flowers and crystals over the area.

"Wow, now THIS is what I call a paradise!" Ken said with a smile.

"You shoulda seen it before." Vanille said as he looked at her. "It was so lush and Green before, but it seems so much darker here..."

"It must have been." He said before taking out the Blue and Green Chaos Emeralds. "Anyway, might as well start looking for them, huh?"

"Right. Gotta get that rock before that little hellspawn does anyway." Fang said, but then noticed small little Flans, Miniflans, walking on a large branch above them. "What's goin' on up there?" They all looked at it as well.

"Yeah...What IS going on up there?" Ken asked, but then begun to follow them. "Come on, let's follow them, see what and where they're going!" He quickly chased them down with both Fang and Vanille following in suite, wanting to see where they're going. But while they chased them, the Chaos Emeralds in his possession begun to glow brighter, with them taking notice. "They're reacting! That's where they're probably heading!"

"Would be great to get that thing already after the miles we just put behind us!" Fang said in response.

"Yeah, I agree on that!" He said back until they stopped, showing the Miniflans finally met their location, but had at least hundreds to thousands grouping around the Purple Chaos Emerald near the large metal beam that supports Cocoon. "There it is! Right over there! But...They're so clumped together around it though..." He looked at them. "Fang, any ideas?"

"Well, how about we deal with 'em the ol' fashioned way? A preemptive strike, ya know?" She asks with a smile, with both him and Vanille looking at them.

"I dunno, think we can take that many of them with our limit of powers? There's probably about...Like a thousand of them." He asks and begins to think a bit, looking around the area to see there's still multiple branches, giving him an idea. "Ok, what if we try to attack them at seperate areas? That way, as a group, we won't get cornered all at once." He looks at them once again. "What do you guys think of that?" Vanille nodded in agreement, and Fang shrugging.

"I'm willin' to give that a try." She said, with him nodding and looking at a branch.

"Ok Vanille, I need you to get on that branch and when I give the word, you release all you magic at once. Got it?" Ken asked, with her nodding again.

"Clear as a bell!" She said before she started climbing up parts of the tree, leaving him and Fang there. Once she got up, Fang noticed him wearing her necklace.

"Vanille give that to ya?" She asked, which made his eyes widen and look at it, with him then nodding. "Must have given it to ya to remember by or somethin'. Am I right?" He nodded again, making Fang smile a bit. "...I dunno if I'm right or not...But I think she's taken a likin' of ya." He looked at her.

"How so?" He asks in question

"She's able to relate to ya so much, give her some sort of happiness or somethin' through support and whatnot. She knows the world, out home, she was in is gone, and feels like she's all that left of her. And with you near, I guess she doesn't feel alone anymore. You give her that feelin' of understanding." Fang said, with him looking at Vanille now on top of one of the branches, with her waving at him with a smile, making him do the same. "See right there?"

"I mean...You think so?" He asks before looking at her. "I mean, she's a human...And I'm just...a Hedgehog." He rubs his quills by asking it, in which Fang swished her hand a bit.

"Ah, what does that even matter? In the end, it's you that she cares for. And that's that." She said, making him smile a bit.

"Thanks...Anyway. Let's get to business." Ken said before looking at the Miniflans. "Now, you handle one side, I'll handle the other."

"Right, gotcha." Fang said, before he suddenly jumped over the Miniflans to get to the other side, catching their attention.

"Hey, little guys! Come and get me!" He yelled as he flashed Blue, and begun to shoot out Aeros at them, knocking them backwards. "Vanille, now!"

"Right!" She said before flashing Blue as well and shot out Aeros as well, hitting those in the middle of the group.

"C'mon you little creeps! Get over here!" Fang yeleld while twirling her spear before preparing it, swinging, spinning, and slashing them in which caused them to explode into small pieces. With her attacks helped by both of their Aeros spells, they quickly begun to disappear one by one, lowering the army of Miniflans.

"And here...We...Go!" Ken yelled before doing a quick spindash through them while wind covered him, doing Galestrike. Once he got to the other side, he quickly begun to help Fang eliminate all of them just before he finished off the last of them, leaving nothing but the emerald while they put down their use of attacks. "Alright Vanille, you can come down!" She quickly jumped down and they all high fived each other. "Now THAT was great!"

"That worked out better than I thought it would. Nice plannin'!" Fang said, making him nod and they all looked at the Purple Chaos Emerald.

"Alright, time to claim what's ou-" He said, but there was a sudden Red flashed that nabbed it, shocking them. "What...What was that?"

"...It's been a long time...Ken." A voice said, which surprised him but then they all looked behind them, seeing it was Edge with the Purple Chaos Emerald in hand, shocking him.

"E-Edge! You're alive! H-How did you-" He tried to ask.

"What? Are you now concerned about me after leaving me to...To Paragon?" Edge asked in anger, which took Ken back. "...After Paragon attacked our home...I was left here...And then you...YOU left me with HIM! PARAGON!" Ken only stared at him in a bit of pain. "...You failed to protect my family...MY FAMILY! Stone...Gemstone...Yune...Aunt Ariel! They're ALL dead because of Paragon, who YOU couldn't stop...But YOU killed me, by leaving me...Leaving ME when it all mattered most, and because of it...Because of being put here...I turned into...THIS!" He ripped off his right glove, showing him his Sanctum L'Cie brand, which was now on its thirteenth and final stage. "...But you don't care of that, do you? You found a new home, a home where you could just PRETEND like nothing happened or mattered while running around with that PULSE TATTOO on your arm!" Ken looked at his brand sadly after loosening the sportstape, showing it's on the fifth stage and now had an eye starting to form in the middle, with Black outlines on the outside and partially on the inside, and the eye being pinkish.

"T-That's not true! He never mean for any of it to happen! He-" Vanille tried to say.

"And YOU! You're not much better yourself!" Edge interrupted, which took them by surprise. "...I know who you are...You're part of the cause...ALL A PART OF IT!" Hearing this shocked Ken and Fang as they looked at her, seeing she's looking down sadly.

"A part of it...What does he mean? V-Vanille?" He asked, but she didn't respond.

"Vanille! Answer us!" Fang said, but still no response, making Edge scoff a bit.

"...I don't expect her to even bother answering...But I'm here for once cause..." He said, with his Sanctum L'Cie brand glowing Bright Yellow. "...And it's to kill you: KEN THE HEDGEHOG! For all you've done to me since the attack of Paragon!"

"E-Edge! Stop this!" Ken yelled, but Edge didn't listen and forced his hand to be covered in Thunder. "...You really want me dead, don't you?" He closed his eyes tightly in pain, then prepared himself alongside Fang and Vanille. "...Then I'll have to fight you with all I've got!" They kept their eyes on each other until Edge suddenly shot Thunder at them, making them dodge to get away from it but he did this to spread Ken away from them, with him then dashing toward him with his Thunder covered fists, his ability known as 'Sparkstrike', and attempted to punch him harshly, but Ken reacted to this quickly flashing Yellow and glowed Clear, entering his Element Guard.

"Hiding behind something to get away from me, are you? That's SO MUCH LIKE YOU NOW!" Edge yelled before he blasted Thunder in front of him, sending him back toward the metal beam that holds Cocoon, with him seeing it and quickly flashed Blue to tap into his Ravenger powers and use Aero to blast forwards and away from it so he wouldn't hit it, and lands on the ground. Edge sees this and begins running to him and shoots Thunder at him, with Ken countering it by shooting Water at them to stop it from hitting him. "You're NOT getting away you heartless bastard!" Once they got close, they both quickly countered each of their strike magic attacks, with Ken using his newest ability for punches, 'Aquastrike', causing water and lightning to come out. "How does it feel Ken? The amount of HATE I have for you?! The feeling of the despair I've felt for a hundred years?!"

"I never mean to do you any harm Edge! You KNOW that!" Ken tried to say.

"ENOUGH!" Edge screamed as he shot out Thunder at him once again, making him instantly block it with Steelguard after flashing Yellow, while Vanille made it to them and begun to shoot Water at him, making him scream after using Sparkstrike on Ken guarding it.

"Leave him alone!" She yelled while she threw more of them at Edge, distracting him but also giving Ken enough time to push him off, flash Blue, and quickly did an Aquastrike in his face, sending him back while he threw Waters at him, making him yell more and suddenly burst with electricity.

"You're DEAD KEN! YOU'RE DEAD!" He yelled and just when he was about to rush at him, Fang got in the way with her Sentinel powers and her newest power, Entrench, activtaed, and blocked him from getting any further. "Get out of my WAY!" He struck Thunder at her, making her wince a bit but took the attacks while both Ken and Vanille threw Water at him still, making scream and weaker bit by bit. "NO! I WON'T LET HIM GET AWAY! I WANT HIM DEAD!" Fang kept him in line for just a little bit longer until countered all of the attacks she took by a simple swipe with her spear, knocking him back greatly and tried to keep himself up but then landed on his one hand weakly. "No...I cannot..." He looked up only to see Ken walking up to him.

"...Stop this Edge. You should just stop before it goes too far." He said, preparing his fists with Aquastrike, but Edge slowly begun to get up.

"You...You think I'm just gonna die?!" He asked in anger, with his L'Cie brand starting to glow White, symbolizing his time is up. "I'm not going to stop this! I WILL NOT ACCEPT BEING DEFEATED TO STOP THIS! I WILL KEEP GOING UNTIL IT'S DONE!" He felt sudden pain in his arm, feeling it become twisted and crystallized by the transformation of a Cie'th. "I-I WILL NOT DIE OR STOP! I'LL DO ANYTHING TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE DEAD NEAR MY FEET!" The Yellow and Purple Chaos Emeralds in his possession suddenly glowed darkly, covering it in dark power as it combined with the transformation, then begin covered by its power. "If this this what must be done to kill you...THEN GO AHEAD YOU FAL'CIE! DO YO**UR WORST!" **He suddenly bursted into Black lightning, catching them off guard.

"W-What's going on?!" Vanille asked in shock.

"I dunno, but it ain't good!" Fang said as the Black lightning finally disappeared, showing Edge to be different; He now had a gauntlet-like Sanctum Cie'th arm that went up to his elbow on his right arm, where it held his L'Cie brand, and had his eyes turned from Bright Blue into Darkness Black. "Is...Is he part Cie'th?!"

"E-Edge..." Ken said silently.

**"...I will go through whatever it takes to defeat you Ken...Even if it means I DIE FROM IT! IT WILL BRING MY WOULD TO PEACE!" **Cie'th Edge said in a warped voice, and begun to quickly shoot out Thunder from his Cie'th hand, making them either block or dodge it quickly to keep fighting against him. At that very moment, his gauntlet glowed with Thunder, and ran toward Ken as fast as he could, with him them attempting to counter it with Aquastrike as best as he could but Cie'th Edge became stronger than he did before. **"Do you feel it? The feeling of darkness that rests within my heart?" **Ken stared at him with painful eyes, with Cie'th Edge not noticing while he kept his power strong. **"You will soon be erased from existence...As well as me, and soon, I will see my family again."**

"But I'M NOT DYING! I've got more stuff to settle! And...And that means beating you to do it if I have to!" Ken yelled as he flashed Red, using the power of a Commando, and pushed Cie'th Edge off of him and begun to punch him as strong as he possibly could by his stage, hitting him in the face. He punched as mush as he could until powered up his fists and punched him over the chin, launching him into the sky. "Vanille! Fang! Now!" Vanille nodded as both her and him flashed Blue, and begun to shoot Water as fast as they could while Fang threw Ruins at him, keeping him up into the air as long as possible before both Ken and her jumped into the air, and punched him to send him down. "I've got to do this Edge! You left me with no choice!" He then spun into a ball, covering himself in water for Aquastrike, and dove into Cie'th Edge, making him scream with a warped voice.

**"I won't lose...I WON'T LOSE THIS CHANCE!" **Cie'th Edge yelled. **"Witness...WITNESS MY NEWEST POWER!" **He suddenly yelled in pain and flashed in darkness, sending Ken back to Vanille and Fang as they all stared at Cie'th Edge, who was slowly getting up but his Sanctum Cie'th gauntlet then formed around his arm and partially covering his neck, ripping that part of his robes and becoming Cie'th Edge II. **"...You WILL DIE! ALL THAT YOU WISH TO LIVE FOR WILL DIE ALONGSIDE YOUR SOUL!" **He then started shooting Thunderas at them, with both Ken and Fang defending themselves and in front of Vanille so she wouldn't get hit.

"This is turnin' crazy now!" Fang said in focus. "If that friend of your doesn't calm down, he might as well BE the one to cause Cocoon fallin'!" Ken stared at her, then shook his head to look at Cie'th Edge II.

"Edge, stop this! You'll fully turn into a Cie'th if this keeps going!" He tried to say.

**"NO! I WILL NOT STOP HERE! I WILL KILL YOU, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS! I WILL BECOME A MONSTER IF I MUST, TO MAKE SURE YOUR BODY LIES NEAR MY FEET!" **Cie'th Edge II yelled as he kept shooting Thunderas at him, making them block them as best as they could.

"Isn't there ANY way to get him out of this?!" Ken asked himself until he remembered something smiliar to this: For when Yune was possessed by the shadows created by Mephiles and saved by the power of the Chaos Emeralds. He reached in and took out the Green and Blue Emeralds, looking at them before looking at Cie'th Edge II, then suddenly ran to him, shocking Fang and Vanille.

"Ken! What are you doing?!" Vanille asked while Ken kept running at him, dodging as much of the Thunderas as best as he could, then focused his powers on physical attacks, and slammed the two Chaos Emeralds inside him, creating a light between then.

"Edge! Wake up! This isn't you! FAR from it!" Ken yelled as the light kept glowing, hoping for the Cie'th form to dispel, but it suddenly faded away into the darkness and sent him backwards to Vanille and Fang, while Cie'th Edge II screamed in pain. He slowly got up to stare at him in shock. "I-I don't understand! It worked on something like this before! What happened?!"

"Must be that darkness inside of the little guy!" Fang said, staring at Cie'th Edge II screaming until darkness consumed him once again. "There's too much of that to even get through to him, especially with how his power is now!" Hearing this made Ken look down sadly.

"Edge...Are you...Really gone?" He asked just before the darkness faded away, having the the Cie'th arm now covering half of his chest, destroying his robes, and now covering half his face, becoming Cie'th Edge III.

**"THE EDGE YOU KNOW IS GONE! DEAD WITHIN THIS COLD BODY, THE SAME ONE YOU LEFT ALONE WITH PARAGON AND ON PULSE! EVERY BIT OF HATE I OLD TOWARD YOU, IS WHAT YOU DESERVE!" **Cie'th Edge III said, just before he started to cry, with the power he now has making him hallucinate on him. **"A-Aunt Ariel? Yune? Stone? Gemstone? Ken? you're all here...We're a family again..." **He started to bawl a bit, with the group no longer preparing themselves and watched. **"...No...Please...Don't leave me here...Don't leave me here to die by him...I don't want to be alone again...I want you back...I want..." **He finally started to cry harshly. **"I WANT MY FAMILY BACK! THEY'RE ALL I HAVE LEFT!" **He screamed sadly and in pain, having the darkness form another Sanctum Cie'th arm on his left one, covering the rest of his chest and aiming to his legs, becoming Cie'th Edge IV.

"Edge..." Ken said in sadness with the others, with Cie'th Edge IV starting to swing his body in pain and with no control. _"He's in...So much pain...I have to...Put a stop to it..." _He looked at Fangs spear, closing his eyes. "Fang...Can I borrow your spear? I...I need it to..." Fang looked at him, with her eyes becoming slightly sad as she knew what he meant, and gave it to him.

"...Do what ya need to do, Hedgehog." She said, with him then absorbing the power of the Chaos Emeralds to enhanced his already enhanced powers, and quickly ran over to Cie'th Edge IV while he swung his arms around. He quickly jumped toward him while he yelled in pain until the impossible happened: Ken stabbed Fang's spear through the chest of Cie'th Edge IV's, making him stop moving and cough out blood just before it was taken out of his chest, making him fall.

"Edge!" Ken yelled as he crouched down to him while crying harshly, with both Fang and Vanille wlaking up. "...Why Edge...Why did you make me do it? What did you have to?!" He, now Edge once again, looked at him with now dying eyes.

"I...I had the hate inside me for so long...Hating you for leaving me..." Edge said while he slowly begun to die, with then watching. "It was all...All I had to live for...I wanted you dead, so I could follow something with a purpose...A purpose to live as a Sanctum L'Cie...I wanted to do...Whatever it took...And..." He coughed out more blood, wanting to also finish what he was saying. "...I plan to continue it..." It was then he lifted himself far enough to suddenly shoot a Thundaga at the metal beams that connect to Cocoon, destroying it as it begun to fall, shocking them. "...This is the consequences...You now face..." He then lied down with his eyes closed, now dead.

"Edge..." Ken said in complete shock until he realized something. "...We brought Edge here! He followed us so he could fight me, and get rid of you two to do it! Paragon was right...WE caused Cocoon to fall!"

"And you are right..." A voice said until it punched Ken, knocking him down and making the Chaos Emeralds in his possession fall, which were taken in a flash later on alongside Edge's, with them then looking in front of them to see the cause of it; Paragon, now holding the Red, White, Green, Blue, Purple, and Yellow. "I lend you my warning, and yet this is consequence you now pay...It is a shame you are the ones to destroy the home I was created from and made to protect...But there is one pro to it...You are now soon to be potentially called enemies of Fabula, the ones to destroy Cocoon. I hope you enjoy your fate as it is now..." He faded away, leaving them.

"...So that's it then?! Our gooses are cooked?!" Fang yelled in anger while Vanille panicked until she remembered something.

"Wait! Ken! The Emerald!" She said before taking out the Light Blue, with Ken looking at it and took it.

"Alright, let's get out of here! Hang on!" He said as they gripped onto him. "Let's just hope there's enough distance! Chaos...CONTROL!" They suddenly warped out of the area, leaving the Sunleth Waterscape.

**_Gran Pulse_**  
><span><em><strong>Archlyte Steppe - Time: 10:04<strong>_

The three of them suddenly appeared back into one of the towns of the Archlyte Steppe, landing on the grass and then looked at Cocoon along with everyone else, now falling into the ground of Gran Pulse.

"It's about to fall! GET DOWN!" Ken yelled as he quickly looked for cover, then jumped behind a shop, with both Fang and Vanille not far behind, and at that moment Cocoon then landed, creating a large explosion of gust covering the area. "HANG ON!" They protected themselves by him and Fang using their Steelguard to protect themselves and Vanille by holding her. The dust begun to destroy homes, stores, and taking away people from the area.

_**Time: 10:27  
><strong>_  
>They both kept hiding for the longest amount of time to them, but they finally began to come out of their cover by looking up to see the shop they were in was now mostly destroyed, along with multiple shops, towns, and people crying over others dead bodies.<p>

"...What the hell have we done?" Fang asked in disbelief.

"MY god...This...We caused this...We should have listened...He wasn't lying at all..." Ken said to himself while Vanille begun to cry a bit knowing this, which he noticed and held her hands in support, making her look at him to see his comforting eyes. At that moment, the floating screens around the area begun a recording on part of the news.

"...We're given reports of our home, Cocoon, has FALLEN into the ground of Gran Pulse!" A female voice said over it, with the screen showing live recordings of it falling. "Nobody has a lead on what truly happened, but it is suggested that there is a strong an possible link to why this occurred. Lately, we have seen reports of four L'Cie fighting in the area of the Sunleth Waterscape." It was at that moment, it showed a recording of the area in the Sunleth Waterscape, showing parts of Ken, Vanille, and Fang fighting off a normal Edge, in which showed him striking the beam on Cocoon while also showing their brands and Edge's fate. "It is now known that these three are now known to hold responsible for these events. Further..."

The three of them stared at the screen in shock, then looked at most of the townspeople to see them staring at the coldly and also taking out their weapons.

"You L'Cie! You destroyed something that was sacred to Gran Pulse! Death to all of you!" An old woman yelled.

"Death to the L'Cie!" A man yelled, as everyone else begun to agree in yelling and then begun to shoot them, making them run away.

"Oh GREAT! So now we're the enemy of the world now!" Ken yelled in anger, shooting Blizzards to halt them and put them out of the way.

"We'll talk about it later! Right now let's get the hell outta here!" Fang said back, with Ken then grabbing Vanille's hand to help her run since she was loosing her footing easily, and they all ran off.

_**Cocoon II**__  
><em>_**? - Time: 11:32**_

A being stood inside of the office, revealing itself to be a Mobian as well, who wore a military outfit that consisted of a Black full-body armor and a battle cape on it, while it stared out through the window.

"Sir! I have a report!" A soldier wearing full-body armor said while walking in.

"...Does it concern the fall of Cocoon?" The Mobian asked, who was revealed to be an adult male.

"Yes sir. Reports have come in that we have found the cause of its fall!" The soldier said. "Based on that research and the recordings made in the area, it is confirmed that the cause is both Oerba Dia Vanille and Oerba Yun Fang. But most of all, it is shown to be a Brown being known as a 'Hedgehog' named Ken." Hearing this made the Mobian's eyes widen.

"Ken the Hedgehog? He is here in the Fabula Nova Chrystallis?" He asked but then shook his head. "...What has become of you now, Son of Hamon?" He looked at the soldier then. "Send out all of the military after them! And bring Ken the Hedgehog, dead or alive."

"Yes, General Stone sir!" The soldier said, with the light showing off to be Stone the Hedgehog, now having rustled quills and fur, and ran off to do his duties. Once gone, Stone looked at the outside again.

"...Why did you have a sudden change of heart, Son of Hamon?" He asked.


	12. Running Away and Learning the Truth

**_Archltye Steppe - Time: 12:04_**

The group kept running through the area of the Archlyte Steppe, which from before they were chased by the towns people in the area due to making Cocoon fall. While they kept running through the area, Vallis Media, a mountainous pathway to another location, Ken looked behind them to see nobody else was chasing them.

"They're not there anymore! We can rest for a bit now!" He said just before he stopped alongside with Fang and Vanille, but then sighed in anger. "So, we're now officially an enemy of the public, and Paragon has the six other emeralds. Well isn't THAT just great?" He shook his head in anger and then took it out for a bit by kicking a rock at the wall, relieving himself for a bit until he calmed down and rubbed his quills in stress.

"What...What do we do now?" Vanille asked in a slight bit of worry, with Fang looking at her.

"I'll tell ya what we're gonna do. We're gonna go get back at Paragon, that's what! Makin' us accidentally do that outta sheer coincidence for us not followin' our focus." She said in anger. "We're gonna find that little pint-sized bastard and get back at him."

"But we don't even KNOW where he is." Ken said to her, making her look. "We need to find some sort of lead to him or something. AT LEAST something...But for now, maybe we should lay low while doing that. In a big city or population maybe. Just ANYWHERE but here."

"Yea...Yea, you're probably right." Fang said while rubbing her forehead. "But we ain't gettin' anywhere with them knowing who we are now. Gonna need SOMETHING to hide what we look like." Vanille looked around, seeing if there were any angry townspeople but found a large amount of dirty Brown sheets lying down and flying a bit in the wind, which could be used for cloaks.

"Why don't we use that?" She asked, with them looking at what she was point to.

"...For cloaks to hide our faces maybe." Ken said as he crouched down and grabbed it to observe how big it was until then put it around him, which was bigger than him since he was a Hedgehog but he ripped it to make it shorter, and used it for a large cloak to cover his body and his head, quills included. "Yeah, this could work at least..." He quickly gave the last of them to Fang and Vanille. "Put them on, it works."  
><em><br>__**Archlyte Steppe - Train Station - Time: 12:43**_

The three of them entered near a train station in the area, with their cloaks now put on as the one on Vanille covered her body and face just well while with Fang it covered her up to her feet.

"Five minute warning! Next train to Academia will be off! Get on while you can!" A man yelled through the intercom, making the group look at it.

"...Academia?" Fang asked in question. "Never heard of THAT place before." At that time, Ken looked at a list of the places that train goes to, and seeing each description of them while both her and Vanille follow a bit after to look at it as well.

"Let's see...New Bodhum...Here we go; Academia." He said as he begun to read the description. "Academia: The main capital of Gran Pulse after the fall of Cocoon in which was stopped by the crystal pillar. Since then, the old Achadmy leader, Hope Estheim, built it for people and science all." Hearing it was Hope made Vanille gasp a bit, making him look. "One of your friends?"

"Yeah, that's right! I'm...I'm surprised he made that!" She said, but then smiled a bit knowing that he accomplished so much.

"Well, anyway, we should probably head on over there. Bigger place will help us blend in a'right." Fang said, with then nodding.

"Yeah, I agree. Academia it is." Ken said before hearing a large ring from the intercom.

"Warning! TWO minutes!" A man said again, with the group looking at each other, nodded, and made their way inside while security cameras watched them but did nothing, showing the cloaks worked and they weren't seen.

"Looks like we made it past security...Least we know these work." He said to them as they all sat on one set of the seats, with Vanille sitting next to them while Fang was on the other side. They waited for the train to finally move until it finally did, heading to the city of Academia while Ken stared at the window in deep thought, which Vanille noticed.

"Are you alright?" She asked, with him shaking his head and then looked down at his left forearm after removing parts of his sports tape to see his L'Cie brand still on the fifth stage and them gripped it in anger.

"Just...Damn it...Why did all of this happen?" He asked himself, making Vanille worried. "...Why did we or Edge have to be like this? To be L'Cie?" He sighed a bit in stress. "...I wish I never became one and could have defeated Paragon in my world...That way...Edge would be alive never have to go through what he went through...Letting him become...That thing..." Hearing this made Vanille look down sadly and in regret, making him look at her as he took notice. "What is it? Are you ok yourself?"

"Yeah...I'm fine." She said before looking at him with a smile, but then made him wonder about something.

"You know...Something Edge said about you...Made me think...He said that you were the 'cause' of my world being destroyed. What does he mean by that?" He asked.

"I don't know. I wish I knew." She said, but Ken just planned to ignore what Edge said until he remembered something else, and took out the Light Blue Chaos Emerald before putting it in her hands.

"I forgot...I think this belongs to you." He said with a smile, with her then looking at it just before he begun to rest on the train, waiting to get to Academia.

_**Academia - Time: 20:58**_

The train kept moving to Academia while it started to rain and the group sleeping a bit with their cloaks on still until the train finally stopped, making them wake up while Ken looked to see Vanille still sleeping, but had her hand holding his, with him smiling a bit before shaking her to wake up.

"Hey, Vanille, wake up." He said, with her then moving a bit to wake up. "We're here."

"A-Already?" She asked, in which he nodded and got up from the train with both her and Fang followed and got out, seeing a large city filled with multiple lights, flying cars, and gigantic buildings that also had multiple sidewalks filled with people. "Whoa...This place is so huge!"

"Yeah it is, isn't it?" Ken asked while crossing his arms. "Kinda reminds me of Station Square in my world. Just by how big it is." He looked around then looked around and continued to walk, with them following just behind them into a group of people, hoping to blend in with it while multiple screens went on with news while people watched it.

"..And in our recent news. Cocoon itself has fallen into the ground of Gran Pulse, near the Archlyte Steppe, Taejin's Tower, and Oerba." A man in a tall and dark suit said, revealing to be a mayor of some sort. "The cause of it? The returning L'Cie from long ago. Two women, Oerba Dia Vanille and Yun Fang, and their newest associate, known as 'Ken the Hedgehog'. All of our mulitary is in search for the three and the general of it wants them either dead OR alive!" Fang smirked upon hear that.

"Ya know somethin'? This reminds me of ol' times. When were were chased down all the time." She said, making him frown a bit but understood she was referencing when she and Vanille were with Lighting and the others. They kept moving and tried to find a place they could rest for a bit.

_**Academia - Restaurant - Time: 21:07**_

After walking for a while, knowing they're still hidden, they were sitting in the very back of a restaurant, a resting place for them until they found somewhere else, while Ken was at the end of one of the windows and staring at his L'Cie brand, seeing it's about to enter its sixth stage as an arrow was about to be formed on the bottom far left of the mark, making him sigh as he knew half of his time is gone.

"How's the brand?" Fang asked, with him shaking his head.

"...Halfway there before...You know." He said, then looked back through the window before sighing again. "...How did all of this happen?"

"I dunno, I really don't, Hedgehog." She said, but he shook his head.

"I mean...ALL of this." Ken said before looking down. "Like...How all this happened to me...How I came into this world to begin with and how Paragon found me, along with Edge...And how I became...Became a Pulse L'Cie, and...Why Paragon even wants me dead to begin with...The Emeralds I can understand but...Why me? I'm far weaker than he is..." Just when he started to think, Vanille stared at the Light Blue Chaos Emerald until something in Vanille made her make a decision.

"I know why!" She said while instantly getting up, which also accidentally led to her hood falling and the security cameras in the area to then see her while they looked at her. "I...I have to admit something! It was-" At that moment, alarms went off and all screens in the city recorded them live at that point.

"Oh GREAT!" Ken said while everyone in the restaurant stared at him just before he spindashed through the glass window, breaking it. "Come on! Let's get out of here!" Both Fang and Vanille jumped out and ran with him, trying to get away from the scene but the cameras still watched their locations until some aircrafts floated by with soldiers inside.

"There they are! Arrest or kill them! Do what you need to men!" The leader from within one of them said while soldiers jumped through a now open part of an aircraft, and landed in front of them with assault rifles in hand.

"Stop right there L'Cie! You're coming with us, dead OR alive!" One of the soldiers said while all of them prepared their guns, making the three become prepared.

"You REALLY don't know what you're dealing with, do you?" Ken asked but then sighed. "Alright then, you're asking for it." He flashed Blue and formed Aero in his hands in a fast speed with Vanille, then quickly threw it at them in which knocked down a majority of them, with the ones still standing beginning to shoot at them, in which he and Fang flashed Yellow and glowed Snow White, using Entrench to deflect them. The soldiers who kept shooting still did so while those who were knocked down got up slowly, but both Ken and Fang quickly countered each and every bullet they took and she swung at them with her spear, knocking the ones shooting into unconsciousness while Ken took out his chains and swipd the ones trying to get up into unconsciousness as well. "Well...That was easy...Too easy."

"I'll say, but hey, who's complain'?" Fang said with a smirk until there was a giant landing behind them, making them look to see Pearl White machine that was levitating on two bottom hovers, two stubs for arms that resembled something for missiles, and had a head attached to the body that resembled a bit of like a Rhino.

"A Bulwarker! One of their top weapons! We fought them on Eden!" Vanille said before preparing herself along with Fang and Ken, doing the same. Both Ken and Fang quickly ran up to it after flashing Red, and begun to punch and slash it as hard as they could but it did little to no damage to it, but it then reacted by forming a laser by splitting its head and instantly shot out multiple shots of electricity at them, sending them back a bit but stopped quickly.

"Sheesh! That thing knows on how to pack a freaking punch!" Ken said while getting up, then begun to form Ruins in his hands and threw it at the Bulwarker, along side with Fang doing the same, which did damage it but not as much as wanted. "Vanille, and weaknesses this thing have?"

"Thunder! It works perfectly for it!" She yelled just before she threw Thunder at it, causing massive damage and overcharged it slightly. Seeing that it works, Ken quickly flashed Blue and begun to throw as many Thunders as he possibly could alongside Vanille, making the overcharge greater and faster while Fang kept throwing Ruins at it to help in the attacks. It kept getting more and more overpowered in Ken decided to stop using Thunder but them jumps into a ball, covered with sparks of lighting, and begun Homing Attacking the Bulwarker as quick as he possibly could, combining his powerful attacks with magic. The attacks kept overcharging it more and more as parts of it begun to fall off and become dent just before exploded into electricity, staggering it.

"It's weak! Now our chance, the both of ya!" Fang yelled as she kept trowing Ruins, then Ken continued to throw Thunders with Vanille, destroying the Bulwarker more and more until was finally on its last leg, with Ken then preparing a Spindash while covered with electricity, activating his Sparkstrike.

"This is it!" He yelled before letting it go, hitting the Bulwarker hard until it exploded, shocking them.

"Ken!" Vanilel yelled until it showed him being sent backwards using Mediguard, then landed on the ground safely. She smiled, knowing he's ok, while he got up in a bit of recovery.

"Man, took a while, but we did it!" He said with a smile, then looked at everyone as they did the same.

"...That was impressive. Your powers have grown more than ever." A voice said, making their eyes widen and looked near them to see it was Paragon, holding a Green light within his hands, making them prepared.

"Well if it isn't you or all people!" Fang said in anger. "You knew that friend of his was comin' after the hedgehog here and decided to use that to your advantage!" Paragon said nothing while Ken got in front of Vanille in protection while glowing Yellow, activating his Steelguard.

"You're NOT getting the Chaos Emerald. You'll have to get it from our cold, dead hands!" He said in anger, but Paragon shook his head.

"To clarify...I am not here to seek for your Chaos Emerald at this time...But...I heard from nearby that you...You question on how you were brought into this world, and by how it was possible for me to find you, is that correct?" He asked, with Ken only staring at him. "What if I showed you...Who it really was that helped me find you, and the Chaos Emeralds?" He just stared at him while Paragon showed him the Green light. "Would you care for me to show you, if you believe me now?" He kept his stare still, but nodded. "Very well...Prepare to know the truth." He then threw it at the middle, showing off a Green portal of what happened while Vanille looked away but Fang watched with Ken, seeing something that shocked them.

The very shadowy figure that was watching when both Ken and Gemstone broke up, and in the outskirts of Station Square, was Vanille herself; In which it all made sense to him now. She was the one who gave Paragon the information of where his world is, and also responsible for his world being gone, the death of Edge, Ariel, and Gemstone, and leading him to be taken into Fabula Nova Chystallis. Once they saw it, Ken looked at her with a painful expression, now knowing what she mean by saying sorry back in the Vile Peaks.

"V-Vanille? Tell me...Tell me it isn't true..." He said, but she responded in crying harshly, showing it was true. "How...How could you..."

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry!" She said before running off, leaving Fang staring in disappointment while Ken stared in sadness, but then lead to pain and anger afterwards.

"...She is the main cause of the chain of events. The fall of your world, Cocoon, and every single event you've been through since my attack. If not for her, you would still be in you home." Paragon said, while Ken gripped his fists angrily. "The very feeling Edge once felt is now inside of you...You must have the power of hate and no sympathy in order gain the power to defeat me. You have all right to accomplish this through her death...It is now or never if you wish to take this chance." He faded away in an Orange mist, leaving Fang and Ken there, standing.

"Hey, Hedgehog?" Fang asked before he made up his mind, and begun to walk to the direction she went, surprising her. "Hey! Whaddaya gonna do?!"

"...Fang...I'm sorry...But I just want to talk to her about this...Something I need to do alone." Ken said before looking back at her. "Just lag behind me...I need time with her." He quickly gave in chase toward her in a fast speed, with Fang then running after.


	13. Revenge or Forgiveness?

**_Academia - Time: 21:57_**

The sky within the city begun to create large rain and thunderclouds, making it rain harsher than it did before and thunder being made, while on top of one of the tall buildings, Vanille was standing on the edge of it and looked through the lights created by buildings, and the buildings themselves, while tears were still streaming down her face but it was hidden by the rain going down her face, with her hood still down. She stared at the site more until stared at the Light Blue Chaos Emerald for a while and then heard footsteps approaching her, knowing who it is but turned to see Ken there with his chains in hand, with there being a silence while they stared at each other.

"...Vanille..." Ken said silently, with her looking down. "...Tell me why you did it. Why did help lead Paragon to destroy my world? I-I mean...You at least owe me THAT much." She still looked down sadly, with tears then starting to form. "You at least OWE me THAT!"

"I never wanted to!" She yelled back, which didn't put any emotions into him, but it hurt her to yell and reacted by holding her arms. "I...Never wanted to. Paragon, found me, and Fang." Ken then started listening to her, wanting to know her reasons. "He threatened me, and...And found the most use out of me out of the two of us, because he knew you would believe anything with my lies on not knowing anything! He said that...If I never found you, he would...Destroy Fang's crystal! Killing her! I didn't have a choice...I love Fang...She's like my big sister and was my only friend left..." He listened still, understanding her situation now. "I don't even know how...How I was awake when he did...But I never wanted to hurt you...Hurt you, of all people!" She slowly prepared herself to be attacked, giving him a clear shot of anything. "...You have every right to hurt me...To punish me..."

He stared at her now, then looked at his chains and his now stage six L'Cie brand, with the arrow on the bottom far left finally made, debating on how to react with her explanation while remembering what Paragon said.

_"You must have the power of hate and no sympathy in order gain the power to defeat me."  
><em>  
>His mind was finally made as he made his way to her, with his chains still in hands as Vanille closed her eyes, waiting for the attack to hit her. She kept waiting but it never came, instead, she felt him hug her tightly, making her eyes open and look at him, with her slowly crouching down to do the same.<p>

"Vanille...They're gone...Everything's gone now...What's done...Is done. An no amount of anger, or hitting can bring it back. If I did...Would it make me feel better? I've just...Got to face the facts now...This place is where I'll live for the rest of my life...And nothing will change that..." Ken said sadly, with her now hugging tighter.

"I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry..." She said, and kept saying it often, making him tear up a bit.

"...I forgive you..." He said, and they both kept hugging each other for what felt like forever to them, not wanting to let each other go, but knew they had to and broke the hug. But once they did, they stared at each others eyes, seeing the complete difference of both color and looks, but they knew something then; The difference no longer matters to them, and that they cared for each other dearly. Just when one of them was about to talk, there was a sudden spotlight covering them.

"I found two of them! Grab them!" A voice said as they both looked to see a aircraft flying about them and soldiers coming down from it, with one of the kicking down Ken on the ground and try to grab and take him to one of the crafts, but he resisted.

"GET OFF ME!" He yelled while another squad attacked and arrested Vanille, who was trying to shoot a spell but was knocked down to the ground as well and cuffed, stopping her from doing anything but only resist by squirming. "VANILLE! NO!"

"KEN!" She yelled, making him suddenly flash Red, took out his chains, and swung it around to get some off of him, but soldiers with jetpacks on grabbed her from the cuffs, and begun to fly off into an aircraft while she tried to resist.

"NO! LET HER GO!" He yelled in anger, throwing fists at all of the soldiers he could attack but couldn't get to her as she was put into the aircraft and it flew off slowly to it's base, Cocoon II. "NO! VANILLE!" His rage finally reached its limit and he quickly formed a Ruin in his hands and threw it into the ground, sending all of soldiers back, with some falling from the building, but he landed on his feet with on drawbacks. He stared at the aircraft leaving, making him angry. "Darn it! If only I was faster!" He gripped his fists in anger until he saw a shadow consuming him, making him look above him to see a large Skytank coming in.

"Stay right where you are L'Cie!" A male voice from inside yelled, then it slowly turned around while lowering itself to see him in its sights, preparing the large cannons. "There's no where for you to run! If you want to make it easier on yourself, give up now or you will die!" Ken only stood there, but then gripped his fists in preparation.

"Like hell I will!" He said preparing himself. "...A world hero doesn't give up or run away from a fight...Or WILL I DIE!" He formed a Ruin in his hand, indicating he's about to take on the skytank alone, and quickly throws it at it, sending it into a far distance, but it did little damage to it. It was then he flashed Blue and threw multiple Fires, Waters, Thunders, Blizzards, and Aeros, but still did little of it as well.

"Ready the missiles!" The man said as the skytank then opened a part of one of the cockpits, revealing them. "Ready? FIRE!" The missiles then shot out, flying and aiming toward Ken, but he then used the power of the Sentinel to use Mediguard, and it hit inflicted devastating damage to him and the building, denting and destroying a part of it but he still remained, guarding it but the power faded away, leaving him kneel down weakly. "Give up now! You'll die if you keep going!" Hearing this made him slowly get up, not wanting to stop by any means.

"I...I won't die here! I'll get out of this and save Vanille!" He said in anger.

"...And what makes ya think you're alone in that?" A female voice asked as she walked in front of Ken, revealing to be Fang. "Mind if I tag along?" He smiled hearing this, and prepared himself.

"...No problem at all!" He said as he looked at the skytank more, noticing the multiple turrets and cockpits that hold the missiles. "Fang, destroy the turrets! I'll take care of the cockpits!"

"Roger that lil' guy!" She said as she then threw Ruins at them at a fast pace while Ken throws his newest spell, Watera, at the cockpits since its his most powerful thus far, with the pressure of it hitting, causing the doors to go back into the cockpits and halt the missiles. He then aimed towards the next one, hoping to do the same thing to it.

"They're not backing down! Shoot out the next set of miss- What?! What do you mean one's out?! And the turrets aren't working?! By the name of Etro, they're destroying our weapons first!" The man from within said. "Use the laser blaster! Now! Before they get the chance!" On the bottom of the skytank, it then begun to take out a large gun that was covered in bright neon lights, and charged in bright colors, catching their attention.

"Hedgehog!" Fang said, with Ken nodding.

"Got it!" He said as they both tapped into the power of the Commando role and shot out multiple ruins at it, damaging the laser blaster greatly and making it spark.

"What?! What's happening?!" The man asked. "They're taking THAT DOWN TOO?! Those L'Cie are getting on my last nerve-" At that point, they blasted enough Ruins on the laser blaster, knocking and detaching it from the skytank and landed in one of the streets, which harmed noone. "They took it down! They're both overpowering us! Retreat now!" THe skytank slowly turned and flew away, leaving them. "We'll get you next time L'Cie! And it won't be the last!" It kept flying away, with them both watching until it went away to Cocoon II, then they looked at each other.

"What took you?" Ken asked, making her smile a bit.

"I think ya forgot how far those legs of yours can take ya." She said, but her smile faded away. "Where's Vanille anyway?" He pointed at the floating planet known as Cocoon II.

"She was...We were ambushed and she was captured. If they don't show mercy on us, they'll probably KILL her!" He said, making her angry.

"Those military pigs! Always followin' orders, and even to kill 'em!" Fang said angrily with her arms crossed, then looked at him. "A'right, now we're gonna save her, right?" He nodded. "A'right... Now if we use Behamut they'll be seein' us easily, so how about using that teleportin' trick ya did before to get us over there?"

"I can't. I need a few Chaos Emeralds to go that far. But if that wasn't the case, Vanille's got the only one left, and it's with her." Ken said, making her sigh.

"Well ain't that just nice?" She asked sarcastically, then paced around in thought, with Ken then thinking. "What other was is there to get us on over there?" She then turned and looked in front of her, seeing something. "Hey, what's that over there?" He then looked to see a shipment being made of an aircraft in a shipyard behind them, with them then looking at each other with smiles on their faces.

_**23:25**_

"...Alright? That the last shipment?" The driver asked while putting a crate inside it.

"That outta be. Be careful with those guns though. They're military class. Need it to rid of thos L'Cie, ya know?" A woman asked, with the driver nodding.

"Don't worry. I'm sure with those beauties, they won't get far." He said, while unknown to them, both Ken and Fang were lying on top of the aircraft, waiting.

"Sounds like they're finally headin' off." Fang said, with him nodding.

"Yeah. It's about time." He said, but they kept waiting longer until it finally begun to move, heading toward Cocoon II finally on their way to rescue Vanille. _"Just wait for me...Vanille."_


	14. Search

**_Cocoon II  
>Prison of the Damned - Time: 9:21<em>****_  
><em>**  
>"...Get in there you L'Cie scum!" A soldier said as he pushed Vanille into a closed cell, and shut it on her, locking her in. "Don't go anywhere girly. We'll figure out on what your sentence will be soon enough!" There were then footsteps of the soldier walking away, leaving her inside the dark cell as she sat on her knees and pulled out the Light Blue Chaos Emerald, in which she closed her eyes and smiled while keeping it near her chest.<p>

"...Hey, that's the Light Blue Chaos Emerald!" A female voice said, making Vanille look to see that there was someone else with her, along with a pair of Green eyes in the shadows being shown. "Where did you get that?" She just stared at the mysterious female and knew she could trust her, due to the sound of the voice.

"I got it from someone you know." She said. "His name...Is Ken the Hedgehog."

"Yeah...That's what I thought." The female said. "I'm not surprised. It was always his favorite of all seven, and with all that talk about you guys destroying Cocoon and all." Vanille looked down a bit sadly hearing that. "Hey, I don't buy any of it. I know he wouldn't do it."

"Are you really...Her?" Vanille asked.

"Yeah, that's right. The one and only." The female said. "And I know who you are aside from the news. The one who helped Paragon destroy our world." She looked down sadly again, but the female shook her head. "It's alright. I'm not mad. I just want to know why, and...Well how's Ken been doing?"

_**Luxuriation - Time: 11:52**__**  
><strong>_  
>The aircraft in which holds all of the weapons for the military to catch both Ken and Fang left, begins flying toward the landing spot for the weapon shipment.<p>

"Alrighty guys! Making my way to the landing zone for shipment!" The driver said while he slowly begun to stop the aircraft for landing.

"Stand by while one of our guys comes in to unload." A woman through the intercom of the aircraft said as it landed, while both Ken and Fang themselves were still lying down on top of it, waiting for it to officially land until it finally did.

"Now's our chance." Ken said, with Fang nodding as they jumped off and over a brickwall, landing in the other side of it, and then looked to see that the city they were in was Pearly White, and the sidewalks and roads around were multi-rock, a pavement that has multiple rocks on them. Seeing the city made him whistle. "Man, now this is one heck of a clean town. Even Station Square of all places weren't like this."

"Well for a place that holds the government and military, it's gotta." Fang said, with the both of them making sure their hoods on their cloaks are on.

"Yeah, point taken." He said. "Anyway, we've got to find out where Vanille's being locked up. Here's what we should do just to make things faster; We split up and get some information about this place, that way we'll know where she'll be holed up. Once we get something, we meet up here."

"My thought's exactly." Fang said with a nod, then pointed west. "You take east and south and I take west and north?"

"Fine by me. See you then." He said before they ran their respective directions, while he kept his cloak on the best he could and stayed at a normal speed so he wouldn't grab attention of the public, and was about to ask around, by starting with talking to a man within a store that holds multiple maps in disposal, but lowered his hood enough to not be noticed. "Excuse me sir." The man then took notice of the sound of the voice, then looked down to see him.

"Oh my, why hello young kid!" He said with a smile. "

"I'm not a kid. I'm a Hed...Never mind." Ken said, making a quick recover. "I'm new into Cocoon II, so can you tell what town this is?"

"What? You're in the wealthiest city of all of Fabula Nova and you don't know what it's called?" The man asked in bafflement. "You live under a rock kiddo?"

"Uh...No. I lived...Lived in the Vile Peaks for the past eight years of my life. Never heard about the name of this place, or anything about it." Ken lied, surprising the man but then felt a bit bad.

"Oh, so I wasn't kidding then." He said, then scratched his head. "I'm sorry to say such a thing young man. But to answer your question, this is Luxuriation; The city of diamond and pearls, a city helped made by Snow and Serah Villiers and her sister, Claire Farron, or better known as Lightning. The very same Snow and Lightning that helped save Cocoon four hundred years ago." Hearing this made Ken's eyes widen a bit. "It's a shame it was destroyed by those L'Cie though...Anyway, you see, this place was once on Gran Pulse, and was known as that title all the way from then to now. But thing is, it was moved because of some scoundrels tried take it down, but never accomplished it. So, we had to move it here. A ton of people come here for Luxuriation."

"I see...Anyway, my biggest question is that...L'Cie that came here. Do you know which prison she was sent to?" Ken asked, which took him by surprise.

"Wait, she's here?! Why would they bring her here?!" He asked in worry. "Oh my goodness...She'll probably destroy this place!"

"N-Never mind! Forget I said anything about that!" Ken said with a worried smile, making the man calm down. "Anyway, thanks for the history of this place!" He nodded and Ken walked away, rubbing his quills through his cloak. "Well, that didn't help much. Maybe I can try somewhere else..." He begun to run through the South-East part of Luxuriation, but then ran over to two people having a conversation about prisons, making him stop to eavesdrop on them but had to look focused. He looked around quickly until he saw a spare piece of paper and a pencil near a small girl that was drawing, with him taking it and start doodling while the took notice.

"...And I also heard that one guy named Barrenguard just got out of the south prison. Can't believe they let him go." The man said.

"I know, right? Murdering a family to get weapons? That's wrong. So very wrong." The woman said with a sigh, but then decided to get to another topic. "Hear about that L'Cie girl, Vanille or whatever he name is, just sent to prison here?"

"Well who hasn't? Honestly, I don't think the girl did it." He said, making the woman angry.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked angrily.

"I mean, think of it this way; This is the same girl that helped STOP Cocoon from falling four hundred years ago. If she saved it, why would she destroy it now? That doesn't make much sense to me." He said.

"Well think what you want to think. But all I know is that girl won't survive a minute in the Prison of the Damned. If she thinks she will, she has another thing coming!" The woman said, with them then arguing about later on, making Ken sigh knowing that where she's being held, but then looked at the girl to see her staring through the hood with wide eyes, knowing who he is. He made a soft smile and put his finger over his mouth, telling her to stay quiet, with her nodding and gave her the writing stuff back and walked away. The girl looked at the drawing that said; 'Thanks for letting me off. I owe you. - Ken the Hedgehog'

"Alright...She's in the Prison of the Damned. Now I've just got to find where that is." Ken said to himself as he kept running south of the city, and kept running until his attention was caught by a group of young women wearing Orange and White clothing pieces that look like wings on the breasts and lower part of them, along with wearing Chocobo features on them such as a tail, wings, and a hat that has a small Chocobo on them. He watched them dancing and laughing around, but then walked to them. "Excuse me?" They completely ignored them, still having their fun. "Uh...Hey?" The ignored them still. "Hey! Excuse me!" That time, it caught their attention and made them look at him. "Hi ladies, I'm new to this place and-"

"A newbie?!" The Black haired asked before looking at the others. "Guess what girls? We got a newbie here! " They squealed all together, hurting his ears a bit.

"Uh...Yeah, right! Anyway, I'm lost so I was wonder if that you girls know where the-" He tried to say.

"And he's lost, with no one to help him!" The same one said, making all of them awe at the same time. "But we'll take good care of you, right Chocobo Girls?"

"Yeah! We'll take good care of you!" The Blonde one said while three of them walked over to grab him by the arms, which took him into shock.

"Hey wait! You're not listening to me!" He said, but they didn't listen as he just begun to use a part of his speed to go backwards, in which made the now struggle until he accidentally fell over, shocking the Chocobo girls.

"Oh my goodness! Are you ok-" A Red haired one said until she and every one of them stopped dead in her tracks, while Ken got up to reveal his head to show off he's one of the ones wanted, and quickly put on his hood. "Y-Y-you're a-a-"

"Look, I know this looks bad right now, but I...I never destroyed Cocoon, alright? I mean, it looks like I did, but I didn't and-" He tried to explain but then sighed, knowing he'll have to lie his way out. "Look. I ditched those guys who actually did destroy Cocoon, ok? I just don't want to get caught yet. Can you girls...Please not say anything?" He pretended to have a weak face on him with the girls looking at each other, then at him with a nod.

"Ok! We won't tell, but you'll have to do something for US in return." The Black haired one said, making him sigh.

"Alright, but when I do you'll have to tell me where the Prison of the Damned is. Because I...I need to talk to someone I care for just one more time." Ken lied, but was referencing that the girl was Vanille.

"Is it a girl?!" A Green haired one asked, but he decided to roll with it and nod, making the girls look at each other. "It's a girl!" The squealed again, making him close his eyes while they looked at him again. "Do you really love her?!" He wasn't sure if she meant the one they thought or if it was Vanille, making him blush a bit and nodded, with them squealing again and hurting his ears. "We're not gonna let THAT pass by, are we girls?

"No way!" A Blue haired one said before looking at him. "Ok, we'll help you find it and keep this encounter a secret, but we need you to know what the Chocobo Girl password and give us the most cutest performance ever doing it! Think you can do that?" He stared at them in question but nodded.

"Eh...I can TRY." He said. "Where can I find the password?"

"Hm...You'll just have to figure it out yourself! It's around somewhere!" The blonde one said, annoying him slightly but took it as a challenge and walked away, from them, looking around the area he's in.

"Alrighty...There's gotta be something related to it around here..." Ken said to himself, shaking his head. "Man, I can't believe it's either find that password or not find where that prison is and have everyone know I'm here." He sighed. "Well, better find that-" He then heard himself stepping on a piece of paper, making him look under to see a poster of the Chocobo Girls, and picked it up. "So, these girls have something in this place." He looked at it more to see four words under the picture of them, making him think. "Could this be the password?" He decided to test it out and walked back to where they were, seeing the dancing again while he just watched, thinking. "Alright...What will make this...'Cute'?" He thought about how to do it, decided, and walked to them, with them actually taking notice.

"Wow! That was fast!" The Black haired one said. "Got it figured it out yet?"

"Yeah...I think so." Ken said as he back up, and took a deep breath while blushing a bit. _"Aw man...Can't believe I'm doing this...Well, here goes." _He crouched down slightly, making the girls a bit worried until he rose up and acted like a cat by making a cat paw motion on his left face and stood on his left foot. "Meow!" He said this in a squeaky voice and jumped onto his right foot and made a paw motion on his right face. "Meow!" He jumped normally and flapped his arms like a bird. "Choco..." He landed, keeping his hands under his armpits and did a pretend chirp. "Chow!" Seeing the performance made them squeal again, while he blushed a bit.

"That was them most cutest thing I've ever seen!" The Blue haired one said.

"Definitely!" The blonde one said before looking at Ken. "Ok! You earned it! That prison you're looking for is in the North-East of this city! I hope you have good luck with your girlfriend!" He blushed by the sound of it, then quickly ran back to where Fang should be.

"Alright, I know where Vanille is now. Time to find out on how to get in." He said to himself as he quickly made his way to where he's suppose to meet up with Fang, seeing her standing there waiting. "Hey! Got anything?" She looked at where he was and nodded.

"That Prison of the Damned place? Yeah, I did." Fang said. "But it turns out there's not really any way of getting in but the ol' fashioned way. Getting yourself caught." Hearing this made him sigh.

"I was worried of that." Ken said while keeping his arms crossed. "There's gotta be a way in...Somehow." At that moment, they saw multiple people running toward the same direction, as if there was a meeting. "Huh? What's going on here?"

"I dunno, wanna check it out?" Fang asked, with him nodding and begun to follow them, wonder what's going on.  
><em><strong><br>Train Station - Time: 12:48**_

"...And thus, because of these blasted L'Cie destroying one of our only homes..." The mayor of Cocoon II said in front of multiple people. "...They L'Cie are now our common enemy, no matter the type! We will bring every single one of them into their nearest hell! No matter where they go, to Gran Pulse or to the world we live and stand on, they will face what is rightfully their fate!" The crowd cheered loudly by the sound of it. "We will rid of these L'Cie from this world, and to make sure none of these beings will hurt our world! For our vengeance and to those who died!" They all cheered once again while both Ken and Fang watched it.

"Sheesh, they really want us dead, huh?" He asked in surprise. "You'd think they would react better than that."

"Well, ya know how these people can be." Fang said while crossing her arms. "Once they lose something they rely on, they start gettin' desperate."

"Yeah, no kidding." Ken said as well while looking around, seeing soldiers. "You'd think they would do a genocide of doing this for pay back and to make sure we're dead?"

"A purge? Yeah, I wouldn't be the smallest bit surprised." Fang said while shaking her head. "People can really be this bonkers. I'd never understand them."

"Yeah...Neither do I." He said in agreement, then looked at the train. "You think that train leads us to where the Prison of the Damned is?"

"Maybe, it's guarded by military, so it's gotta." Fang said while observing it. "You got somethin' in mind?" Ken looked down at his left forearm in thought, and then nodded.

"...If it's L'Cie they want, it's a L'Cie they'll get." He said with a small smirk. "We should get on that train, see if it'll lead to the prison. Then once we do that and save Vanille, we should be able to get back to where we were so we can find another lead to Paragon." She looked at him for a bit, then smiled.

"...Ya really care for her, don't ya?" She asked while smiling, with him nodding

"Yeah, I do... And I don't leave people I care for behind. Not now or ever. I just wish I could have for...Edge...But that won't stop me." Ken said before he quickly whistled, catching all of their attention. "Hey! Heard you're looking for us!"

"What? What are you-" The mayor asked before the both of them looked at each other to nod, and removed their hoods from their cloaks to reveal themselves, shocking all of them. "You...You..."

"You want us killed? Well then..." Ken said while also putting his arms together, same with Fang. "...Go ahead and lock us up! In fact, we want it! We don't have much of a reason to live anyway!"

"...Then do not waste any time and get on the train for the execution for the Prison of the damned!" The mayor said, making the rest of the crowd yell at the two of them in agreement.

"Get on the train so you can be purged you disgusting L'Cie!" One man said.

"How DARE you destroy our home you monsters!" A woman said while holding her child back and two soldiers walked over to Ken and Fang so they could cuff them in electrical handcuffs, making him give out a fake evil smirk.

"Yeah, punish us! We deserve it! Kill us!" He said, keeping the expression in which angered the mayor.

"You two are truly begging for this, aren't you?" He asked, with them nodding. "...Very well! Send the L'Cie to the Prison of the Damned, where they will be executed!" They all cheered while the soldiers aimed their guns at their backs and make them walk to the train, but not before grabbing Fang's spear from her back, making her smirk.

"That's fine, I never needed it anyway!" Fang said while both her and Ken were put into the train, forced sitting down, and closed the door on them. Once they were stuck, with multiple soldiers with them, she looked at him. "This what you expected Hedgehog?"

"Didn't expect to see so many people hate us, but more or less." He said with a smile until they felt the train moving a bit. "Looks like we're on the move. Hopefully this'll lead us to Vanille."

"Well, here's hoping." Fang said as the train kept on moving, indicating they were about to make their way to the prison.

"_Just hang on a little while longer...Vanille. We're coming." _Ken thought while gripping his fists.


	15. Anima

**_Prison of the Damned - Cage - Time: 14:15_**

"...And so Paragon forced you to watch after him so he could know where he was in exchange for your friends life?" The female within the shadows asked, with Vanille nodding. "That's just...Crazy. God...And now Ken is halfway to becoming those 'Cie'th'. Wow...This is just been crazy."

"I have a question for you." Vanille asked, catching the female's attention.

"Go ahead. I'll answer it." She said.

"Why are you locked in here with me? Did you...Do something?" Vanille asked, but the female shook her head.

"Actually, I don't think the military even noticed I was here." She said. "All I really do remember is being beaten by Paragon, and then for some reason I end up in this world. Paragon himself found me and put me in here with nobody even noticing. Maybe he locked me up here since he'll know me being around will help Ken stop his plan on recreating Eden. Or something around those lines. I don't know too much of it myself." Vanille nodded and looked down at the Light Blue Chaos Emerald in her possession, keeping it close to her chest and her heart with a smile on her face. "...You love him, don't you?" She looks down shyly, but nods. "...I'm not surprised. Is it because of him accepting what you did and are?" She nods slowly, making the female laugh a bit. "I don't blame you for that.

"...Is it even ok?" Vanille asked in wonder and fear. "Is it ok for...Me and...Something like him? Is it strange?"

"...Well I don't think so." The female said. "I mean, if you love someone, there shouldn't be limits to that. No matter what the species is. There will be people who will find it strange, but in the end, being with that person is what matters most. No matter what. In fact, go for it the next time you see him." Vanille nodded slightly but kept her eyes at the emerald.

"...Would he...Would he come for me? After everything?" She asked, with the female nodding.

"Definitely. He never leaves the ones he cares and loves behind, and he always forgives them regardless. He's that great of a guy." She said, in which Vanille nodded once again and held the emerald close, hoping for it to be true.

_**Prison of the Damned - Entrance - Time: 15:02  
><strong>_  
>Both Ken and Fang stayed on the train still, having soldiers watching over them still from within. All they could hear was the train moving and feeling it bump, and it was all that they could here until another soldier came in with the others.<p>

"Attention gentlemen. We're now reaching the prison. Prepare yourselves, in case of whatever happens." He said, with the two of them looking at each other.

"Ready?" Ken asked, with Fang nodding with a smile while a soldier walked up to him, prepared.

"So L'Cie, looks like your on your way to death. Anything you'd like to say to each other first?" He asked, to which Ken smiled. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing really, just thought you need to..." He said, with the soldier then noticing the part of the handcuffs that produce electricity was then covered in Blizzard, with him then quickly braking and kicked the soldier away and out cold, surprising the others. "...Chill out!"

"The hedgehog! He's escaping! Shoot him down!" Another soldier said as the others took out their guns and began to shoot, but not before Ken quickly tapped into his Sentinel powers and used Entrench, making it deflect bullets around the area. Seeing it was not making any damage, he decided to use this spot of weakness to his advantage.

"My turn now!" He said until he flashed Red and focused on his physical powers used his fast speed to run to the soldiers and knocked some of them down unconscious with a few punches, while one in particular attempted to stab him with Fang's spear, but he saw this and reacted by flashing Blue and formed Aero in his hand and quickly threw it at him, knocking him back and also the spear, to which Ken grabbed. "Fang, heads up!" He quickly shot Blizzard at her cuffs, with her breaking it, and threw it at her, with her seeing and grabbing it while smirking.

"Appreciate it!" She said as she then swung it around by doing a twirl around her body, knocking and slashing some of the soldiers that planned to attack her down onto the ground, making her smile before they both saw the last soldiers staring at them with his gun in hand while shaking. Seeing this made her walk over to him.

"S-Stand back! I'm arm-" He tried to said but she quickly kicked in the face, sending his head crashing into the wall and knocking him out, while also leaving a dent.

"There. That should be the last of them." Ken said with a smirk. "Now how about we get off this crazy train?" The two of them walked through another part of the train, seeing it was the main control room.

"That outta be it! Let's stop it!" Fang said as Ken grabbed a lever, revealing to be the breaks, and pulled it, causing the moving parts that caused the train to move suddenly stop and create sparks, indicating that it's working. They both waited for the train to stop until it did, making the door open. "Let's move!"

"Alright! Vanille, hang in there! We're coming!" He said to himself as the both of them ran out of the train, seeing they were now inside what appeared to be a large base filled with technological buildings, large poles, bridges, and sentries. "This must be it...Prison of the Damned." He began to look around. "Where do you think Vanille might be?" Fang looked around as well until she saw a large building, larger than the others in the area.

"There. She's probably holed up there." Fang said while pointing at it, with him looking and nodding.

"Alright, hang in there Vanille. We're almost there." Ken said while he begun to walk to the direction the building was at, but was stopped by a large machine with giant machine guns attached to the multiple wings it had that floated around the cockpit, and had multiple rocket launchers on the nose, crashing through the bridge that led the way, which shocked them as he begun to fall. "WHOA!"

"MOVE, HEDGEHOG!" Fang yelled before she suddenly grabbed him by the cloak and pulled him away, just before it shot out its rockets, knocking them backwards away from the machine with them glowing White-Blue, using Mediguard. They landed just after their guard disappeared, and quickly got up to see the large hole that separated them from the building. "Damn it!"

"Dang it! Why does this stuff ALWAYS happen to us?!" Ken asked in anger just before he prepared himself, alongside Fang. "Come on you piece of scrap! Let's see what you've got!" They waited until the machine guns began to prepare itself and started to shoot, with the both of them flashing in Yellow in response and glowed White protecting themselves as best as they could with the power of Entrench. "Fang! Let's split up so we can deliver some damage!"

"Got ya!" Fang said as she looked at the machine and smirked. "C'mon ya bucket of bolts! You're barely hurtin' me! Give me your best shot!" Hearing this caught its attention and directed the half of the bullets from Ken to Fang, making her react by suddenly glowing Red, using Vendetta. "Go!" Ken nodded and quickly flashed Blue while also forming Thunder into his hands.

"Time for you to get out of our way, because we have someone to save!" He said until he quickly threw a barrage or Thunder at the machine, hitting overpowering it slightly to the point where parts of it begun to fall until it revealed a weak spot for a wing. "Fang! Switch!" She nodded and he looked at the machine before flashing Yellow once again. "Hey! Come and get me if you can handle it!" The machine looked at him and began to shoot, to which he reacted by using Mediguard while Fang immediately stopped guarding, prepared her spear, and quickly ran to the machine and counterattacked by slashing one of its weak spots with the power of Vendetta, making the portion explode right in front of them and send them back onto the ground, but didn't hurt them as much as expected due to them using the power of the Sentinel role.

"Ah...Jeez, talk about not expecting that, huh?" Fang asked as they both stopped guarding, with their guard fading away slowly, and looked to see the large amount of smoke covering the machine, but was cleared by rockets suddenly being shot out along with multiple bullets, catching them by surprise. "Look out!" She quickly grabbed Ken and threw him up in the air, getting him out of the way so she could quickly take the hit by guarding with Steelguard, creating a large explosion.

"FANG!" He yelled until he saw her coming out of the smoke, but landed harshly on the ground despite having the guard. "HANG ON!" He landed on a part of the debris flying away while flashing Red, indicating he's now in the Commando role, quickly did a spindash, and released it so he could attack the machine, hitting and scrapping the top of it before heading over to Fang so he could protect her. "Fang, are you alright?" She started to move a bit and began to get up.

"Y-Yeah...I'm a'right..." She said while officially getting up to look at the machine. "That blasted thing ain't goin' down without a fight. Got any ideas?" He began to think a bit, looking down and uncovered a bit of the sportstape to look at his brand, seeing it was now in it's seventh stage, now having the bottom far right part having an arrow and the Pink of the eye turning darker into a light red and now a bit bigger, then closed his eyes tightly before preparing himself once again while looking.

"...Leave me here! Leave me so I can deal with it while you save Vanille!" Ken said, surprising her.

"No way in hell am I leavin' ya here! Vanille's expectin' ya you stupid moron!" Fang said, in a slight bit of anger

"There's no way I'm gonna make it here! Not in a place like this!" Ken said while shaking his head. "You're Vanille's best chance! There's...There's no way I could possibly save her now in this battle! Not after...Not after what happened in my world, or with Edge!" His brand suddenly glowed Dark Brown, making him feel pain in which he reacted holding it so he could try to reduce it. "I'm gonna die here by this thing, which shows I can't save her at at this point! Like... LIKE WITH PARAGON!" He suddenly screamed in sheer pain while a large aura began to cover him until there was a sudden burst of light shooting out, with it floating around in a streak of light before turning into darkness while he got on his knees in weakness.

"What the-Is that a-" Fang tried to say while the darkness still floated around until it barged through the machine, destroying and making it explode, leaving behind a large gust of smoke, as it also caught Ken's attention.

"What...What was-" He tried to ask but the darkness then flashed in the place of where the machine was, revealing itself. It was a large and sinister looking mechanical knight with a Gold helmet that covered the head, but fully as the bottom part of it was cracked and showed teeth, long White hair coming out from the sides and back that resembled almost like mist, along with one shining eye showing in the right, Gold armor that has Ken's symbol on the shoulder plates but was half covered by the hair, a Grey ripped up cape, and large gauntlets being covered by chains. "W-What is..."

"That's it! It's a Eidolon! It responded to ya! It's yours!" Fang said while preparing herself, which surprising him.

"This...This responded to me? I-It's mine?!" Ken asked as he looked at the knight in shock, observing him while it prepared to fight by holding darkness in its fists and preparing chains, making him grip its fists. "You want to show me salvation, huh?! Fine then, do your worst!" The Eidolon grunted in preparation and quickly swung its chains at him, with him quickly dodging and reacted by tapping into his Ravenger role and shot out his advanced Aero, Aerora, at it, hitting it but also did little to no damage. "What..." It suddenly wiped away the Aerora away, and then crossed its arms right before its eye glowed, covering itself in darkness. "What is it..."

"Look out!" Fang yelled just before the eye stopped glowing, releasing a large blast of darkness at Ken, who quickly and barely dodged the attack and caused more of the bridge to fall. "Ya need a bit of-"

"No Fang!" Ken said suddenly, which surprised as he got up. "...This is my fight. And I need to do this for my sake..." She stared at him, nodded, and backed away for him to deal with it, making him smile. "Thank you...I need this more than ever." He prepared himself again. "Come on! Let's do it!" The Eidolon quickly took out the chains attached to its gauntlets, and begun to swing them at a fast pace, with him then flashing and glowing Yellow, guarding against as many of the hits as he could take until it shot out darkness from its hands, and only took as many hits as he could.

At that point, he quickly flashed Blue and threw his last stage of Aero due to his brand maturing his powers now, Aeroga, with it hitting and creating a small tornado around the Eidolon while he then threw multiple Aeros right after it, but the attacks still didn't harm it. As a counterattack, it suddenly pushed back the Aeroga by its gauntlets, and then shot Aeros back at it, with Ken then shooting some back as their winds countered one another, while at the same time, he felt some sort of connection with it.

_"This thing...It's so powerful...And for some reason...It's like I know it, and its name. But I can't tell WHAT it is." _Ken thought to himself right before he dodged the last Aero, threw and Aeroga at it to create the tornado, and he threw the second level of Fire, Fira, at it, creating a large flaming tornado with the Eidolon in it. He waited for something to occur but the flame tornado faded away, leaving and revealing it to be still standing but had its armor now glowing Red from the heat, and it then reacted by shooting out darkness from its eye again, with him quickly rolling out of the way and quickly shot Ruins at it afterwards, making the connection more and more stronger. _"Dang it...What are you really? I feel like I DO know you...And your name...I remember a part of it now...Starts with an A. An...Ani...What was it fully?!"_

He stopped throwing Ruins at it and started throwing Thunderas, the advance spell of Thunder, at it but it only absorbed the power within the darkness, destroying it but then shot out darkness as a coutnerattack, with Ken then flashing Yellow and glowed Ruby Red, using the power of Vendetta to take all of its power. The darkness kept being shot at him constantly, hitting him more and more until he flashed in the color he's glowing and punched through the darkness, getting far enough to punch the Eidolon, which sent it back slightly but reacted by swinging its gauntlets at him, with Ken reacting by tapping into the role of a Commando, and countered by them both punching their fists at each other, creating another connection between the two of them.

"...That's it! I know what you are now! A part of me filled with so much pain and darkness of being a L'Cie and what happened throughout all that!" Ken said finally, with the Eidolon then grabbing his hand, now holding it. "Let's become one as a L'Cie; Anima!" Anima then threw him into the sky, aimed its gauntlets at him, and shot it out of its arms at him, in which he grabbed it and became attached to his arms, while it's legs and body then formed together into a Gold board that held parts for his feet to be put into, with its arms, cape, hair and helmet being shot out of it and opened for Ken to put his body on. The arms coming on his, the hair turning into a White torso armor, the helmet transforming into gold plates and landed on his quills to create a full helmet customized for him, and the cape them forming around his legs. He landed onto the Gold board, where his feet are suppose to be, and covered it up in which made the engines within rev up with Blue lights under it holding him afloat. "Yeah! WOO!" Fang stared at this and smirked.

"Not bad hedgehog. Not bad at all." She said while Ken looked at himself covered in armor and the gauntlets.

"Whoa...This is just too cool!" He said until he heard the sound of something movie, seeing that it was the same machines from before, but more than twenty of them. "Not this time you machines!" He then started the hoverboard by lifting it up, and quickly flew over to them to destroy them by his gauntlets, tearing through and destroying one of them in one attack. "Now I'll show you the true power of a L'Cie!" he made a swift turn and flew toward more of them, tearing through and shooting more powerful Aerogas at them alongside the shining eye ability Anima used, Pain, causing them to be destroyed in one blow without any effort. "It's time I put an end to all of this! I've wasted enough time!" He revved up the engine in the hoverboard, and suddenly created a large wave of darkness in the area, making it nothing but dark until Ken blasted through each and every last of the machines through teleportation.

The wave of darkness then suddenly disappeared, leaving all the machines to fall down in explosions, while Ken then teleported behind Fang, grabbed her, and took her to the other side of the destroyed bridge just in time before the form of Anima's, Gestalt, reverted, leaving Ken to be out of the suit of armor while it returned back to its normal form. Once he returned, Ken gave him a smile and thumbs up.

"Thanks for coming! I mean it, you helped me a lot!" He said before it flashed away from darkness into a Dark Brown and turned into his Crystal, a Brown Emerald that had a Darker Brown marking of Ken's symbol on it, making him grab it and stare at it in awe. "Did I...Do it?" Fang smiled and put her hand on his shoulder, making him look.

"That's your crystal, an Eidolith. So yea' you did it." She said, making him smile a bit but he then looked at his L'Cie brand, seeing it now from the seventh stage to the ninth, having the top far left and right parts have arrows and now the Light Red of the eye is now darker, and becoming bigger.

"...Hey Fang, something's not right." He said as he showed her his brand, which surprised her but then looked at hers, seeing it's still on the seventh stage.

"That summon of your Eidolon must have sacrificed your time. You have less of it now." She said, making him look down sadly but she patted his shoulder. "Hey now, we still got time to stop that small pint-size." He looked at her, and then nodded with a smile. "So then, ready to go save Vanille?"

"...I am." He said as they ran through the door and inside the prison, ready to save her.


	16. Prison Break

**_Prison of the Damned - Cages - Time: 15:15_**

The female from within and Vanille, who was still holding the Light Blue Chaos Emerald near her chest and heart, still sat there in silence until there were sirens going off, catching them by surprise.

"Attention all soldiers! Two of the wanted L'Cie have entered into the main base! I repeat; The two wanted L'Cie have entered the main base! Lock down the L'Cie! They're probably after her!" A female voice yelled through the intercom, in which made Vanille smile a bit.

"I told you he'd be here to rescue you, didn't I?" The female asked, with her nodding until a soldier opened up the door to the cage, with the female hiding in the shadows now.

"Alright L'Cie! We're moving you to a new ce-" He said until he was punched in the face and had his head slammed against the wall by the female, knocking him out, and she came out of it and into the light, revealing to be a Mobian herself; Yune.

"Ready to get out of here and see Ken again?" Yune asked with a smile, in which Vanille nodded, while she grabbed a assault rifle from the knocked out soldier. "Well then let's not waste any more of our time and get out there!"

"Right!" Vanille said before looked through the knocked out body of the guard to see her rod with him, and grabbed it before running off to find Ken so they will reunite.

**_Main Base - Time: 15:14 _**

Both Ken and Fang ran through a large hallway and into a large area that lead to two other hallways, creating a fork.

"Which one is Vanille in?!" Ken asked while looking at them. "She's got to be in one of these!"

"Your guess is way better than mine hedgehog. Seems like we'll just haveta split up again." Fang said with her arms crossed, making him sigh.

"I guess we have to. Alright, I'll take the right while you go left." He said just before the sirens went off.

"Attention all soldiers! Two of the wanted L'Cie have entered into the main base! I repeat; The two wanted L'Cie have entered the main base! Lock down the L'Cie! They're probably after her!" A female voice said while soldiers wearing jetpacks and holding assault rifles came out from all sides, which took them by surprise but prepared.

"They'll most likely be after me since I'm fast! Leave them to me!" Ken said before walking toward them while glowing Dark Brown. "Hey! Come and get me!" He quickly ran off to the right hallway, catching their attention.

"The hedgehog is on the run! Men, corner him as best as you can!" One yelled as the majority of them begun chasing after him, leaving the minority with Fang, who smirked.

"You're gonna have a ton of fun with me boys!" She said before jumping toward them and slashed off some of their jetpacks, knocking them down to the ground while some began shooting at her, in which she reacted by flashing Yellow to activate her Sentinel powers, and guarded the bullets using Vendetta. She took the attacks long enough until she counterattacked them by hurling her self toward them and slashed them down to the ground, with her then landing in the direction of the left hallway.

_**Right Hallway - Time: 15:16**_

Ken ran through his respective hallway as quickly as he could while he was being chased by the soldiers, making him look at the and start shooting Aerora as them, knocking some of their jetpacks off and make them land on the ground in pain while the ones who kept chasing him shot bullets at him through their assault rifles, making him dodge them as best to his ability. Once the last bullet was fired, he quickly jumped up and began to run on the ceiling now, catching them off guard until he took out his chains and whipped them at the jetpacks, damaging a part of them in which made them malfunction and burst into flames, making them fall down harshly.

"And BOOM! That's how I do it!" Ken said with a smile until he heard something catching up to him, making him look to see that a fully armored Gold and Purple man with a double-edged spear and large Purple cape caught up to him, a Templar. "Well it looks like some of the military has sent some of the best! Glad to see me?" The Templar didn't respond, but only stared at him. "Not much of a talker huh? Figured as much!" The Templar then suddenly swung its spear at him, which caught him offguard but then used his Entrench ability after flashing Yellow to guard it, but then quickly attacked back with a punch, but it dodged fast enough to not get hit.

Both him and the Templar kept racing each other through the hallway and accidentally making a few wrong turns, staring at each other until he threw Ruins at him but it reacted by guarding against it and counterattacked by attempting to slash him, in which was blocked by Ken suddenly guarding it himself by using Vendetta, and attacked back by suddenly punching it in the face, sending the Templar back and crashing for a while until it recovered, and flew again to catch up to him, with it now having a dent on it.

"Sheesh, now YOU'RE a tough one! But now it's just getting started!" Ken said just before he flashed Blue and begun to shoot out Thundera and Blizzaras, with the Templar the guarding against it as best as it could until he shot out Aeroga and a Fira, creating the flaming tornado around it. "And now for the results!" He then formed the final stage of Water, Waterga, in his hands and shot out the large ball of water, taking out the fire tornado to reveal the Templar's armor now rusty and burned through the attack, but still flew and suddenly counter attacked at him, sending him into a wall and stumble a bit but recovered. "Nothing's really going to stop you, huh? Guess it's time for the big guns now!" He put his hand over his left forearm, making his L'Cie brand glow Dark Brown while his Eidolith appeared in his hands. "Let's go, Anima!"

He quickly threw it at the ground, breaking it but also created a cloud of darkness behind him, with something coming out and revealed to be Anima. Once it was out, the legs and body created the Gold Board and the other parts forming the armor, combining together to put Ken into the Gestalt mode, and he quickly began to shoot darkness at the Templar through its gaunlets, hitting it as hard as possibly while also destroying parts of the armor greatly. He kept shooting darkness until he saw weakpoint of the Templar, then quickly shot Pain at it, hitting it and making it fall in defeat hard.

"And that's how it's done!" He said just before more of the soldiers came in. "Didn't have enough, huh? Well now it's time for round two!" He suddenly made a quick turn and flew off while fighting off the other soldiers, with the bullets deflecting of the armor.

_**Far Left Hallway - Time: 15:19**_

Both Yune and Vanille kept running through the left hallway for not only escape, but to also find Ken and Fang as well.

"Where could they be?" Vanille asked in worry.

"I don't know, but Ken's around here somewhere with your friend." Yune said while looking around with the rifle in hand, preparing herself. "My question is where they are..." They were about to keep running, but then heard a loud yell from the distance, with Vanille recognizing it.

"Fang!" She said in shock before running of to it, making Yune worry and run forward as well.

_**Left Hallway - Time: 15:17  
><strong>_  
>Fang made her way through her respective hallway while slashing through more of the soldiers so she would make her way through it and find out if Vanille is in the area, but once she traveled far enough, she entered into the center of all of the main cells, which also lead to two other hallways.<p>

"Vanille! Ya in here? Vanille?" Fang yelled loudly, looking around to hear something but no sound was made.

"Fang!" A voice yelled in the far distance of the left hallway, making her eyes widen, and attempt to run toward her but was then stopped by a large machine; It was a six legged machine that had wires for a tail attached to a bottom piece, and a torso that had no hands but shield-like objects on its back, along with having Blue marking on it catching Fang by surprise but then took this as a challenge, knowing she's the only one that's there to fight it.

"Here's to stop me are ya? Well you better get outta my way you bucket of bolts!" She said while preparing her spear and ran over to the machine, Tyrant, so she could slash it, but it guarded in response and glowed a bit on the other side, until it shot out a small blade that was covered in Blue markings at Fang. She saw this and quickly guarded against it, and sent it back but the blade had a mind of its own and made a sudden turn to aim toward her while she was about to attack the Tyrant but was suddenly slashed in the back by the sword, knocking her down onto the ground after yelling loudly. "A-Ah...What was..." She tried to get up but then looked to see the blade nearby, and ready to stab her but it was suddenly hit by a Watera, knocking it back.

"Fang!" The voice said as she then looked to see it was Vanille, alongside Yune.

"Va-Vanille!" She said just before she cured her, giving her the strength to get up and look at her with a smile. "I'm glad to see your a'right yourself!" Yune then looked at the blade now sticking to the ground, but begun to move.

"Uh...Guys? Maybe we should focus on what's happening!" She said, making them remember what's happening and prepare themselves. "We probably need to destroy the blade! That's our biggest issue!"

"On it!" Fang said as she then ran to it and begun to slash it while it was stuck to the ground, with Vanille helping out in destroying it by shooting Fira and Aeroas as well while the Tyrant made their way to them, but Yune then aimed her assault rifle and shot it, catching its attention.

"Hey! Come over here!" She yelled, making Tyrant make its way to her while she shot, and both Fang and Vanille destroying the blade, then put their attention on attacking it from behind, catching its attention once again and slowly turn, but both Fang and Yune's attacks start to overpower it alongside Vanille's magic. They kept attacking in different directions while it kept getting struck by Thundera long enough until it begun to fall apart, parts of the shield and all.

"Just a little longer now girls!" Fang said until Vanille prepared the last Thundera, and struck it into the Tyrant, making it explode into multiple parts, destroying it. Once it was, they all sighed a bit.

"Man, that was intense." Yune said before she put her assault rifle on her back for safe-keeping, while both Fang and Vanille looked at each other happily and hugged, making no words since there didn't need to be any because of their reunion. Once the hugging stopped, Fang looked at Yune in question.

"So, who are ya? You someone from that hedgehog's world?" She asked, with her nodding.

"Ken's? Yeah, I am. But I'm more than that." Yune said with a smile. "I'm his twin sister, Yune. I bet he talked about me, didn't he?" Fang's eyes widened a bit, realizing who she is.

"You're her, huh?" She asked before her expression disappeared. "Yeah, he's been lookin' all over for ya. Speakin' of that, we outta go find him." Vanille and Yune smiled upon hearing this, and they headed toward the way both Fang and Ken came, but another one of the machines that look like Tyrant came up, but now had Orange markings on it instead, now a different one known as an Immortal. "Aw you gotta be kiddin' me!" They all prepared themselves until the Immortal was hit by a strong Aeroga, sending parts of it off, while they all looked to see a Gold streak blasting through one of the hallways, but then jumped in front of it for it to unattached to reveal it was Ken and Anima, with him jumping in front of it and slowly getting up to look at it with a smile.


	17. Reuniting

**_Prison of the Damned - Main Cells - Time: 15:21_**

They all prepared themselves until the Immortal was hit by a strong Aeroga, sending parts of it off, while they all looked to see a Gold streak blasting through one of the hallways, but then jumped in front of it for it to unattached to reveal it was Ken and Anima, with him jumping in front of it and slowly getting up to look at it with a smile.

"Hey there big guy! Here to stop me and Fang from saving Vanille?" He asked it, unknown to him that Yune was there and watching as well, along with everyone else. "Well then, you've got another thing coming. Because now, you're going down!" He quickly ran to it while tapping into his Commando role, and attempted to punch it but the shield-like objects interrupted the attack but Anima was just behind him and attacked with its gauntlets, damaging and making it crack slightly, shocking Yune.

"Whoa...Is this really...His power now? The power he gained by being a L'Cie?" She asked until the Immortal shot out a Orange marked blade at him, making him dodge it but made a quick turn toward him, but Anima saw this and launched it with its talons from the gauntlets, making Ken hear this and formed a larger Ruin in his hands.

"RUINGA!" He yelled before throwing it, hitting it and causing a large explosion and implosion, creating a large amount of smoke until he quickly turned back to the Immortal, flashed Blue, and quickly threw Aerogas at it alongside Anima, creating a large amount of wind that begun to tear apart pieces of the machine more and more, but most importantly the shields on its back. "You're near your end, time to put you out of your misery! Anima, let's go!" Anima quickly grabbed his hand, threw him before shooting its gauntlets, hair, cape, and arms at him to create the armor while the body and legs formed the board, with him then landing on it, entering Gestalt mode. "Let's show it how it's done!"

Ken then quickly formed darkness within his gauntlets and begun shooting at it constantly, harming and destroying the front more and more as it started becoming into nearly nothing but an exoskeleton. At that point, he decided to finally finish it by using Anima's final attack, 'Oblivion', forming darkness around the area, making it dark until he begun flashing and teleporting near it so he could hack and slash through it. He kept doing it long enough and finished it off by hacking through it with both his gauntlets, making the darkness fade away and have the Immortal explode behind him while he was on the other side, which didn't affect him. Anima quickly reformed back to its normal form, leaving Ken out of the armor but looked at it with a smile.

"Thanks girl! Until next time!" He said before Anima turned back into his Eidolith and went back into his L'Cie brand, then started to stretch his neck a bit. "Man, that took a while."

"Ken!" Yune yelled before running to him, which caught his attention to look at her in complete shock, but then she instantly hugged him, with her hugging back.

"You..You're alive. I knew you were...I just had to." He said until they stopped their hug and stared at each other. "But...How? How did you even survive all that happened in our world?" Yune shook her head with a smile.

"I don't even know, but I don't care anymore. I'm just glad to know you're alright..." She said, making him smile and hug her again.

"Same with me...Now nothing will separate us...We're truly brother and sister again." He said until he looked up and noticed Vanille with wide eyes, with the body of them staring until Yune took notice, smiled, and walked back a bit to give them space. They both stared at each other until they finally started to walk toward one another, but slowly turned into a run for each other. Once near, Vanille quickly picked him and held him near her chest, with him hugging back tightly.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry for making you do this." She said silently, but he smiled a bit.

"Don't be. I did it to save you. That was all that was on my mind when you were sent here." Ken said before she stopped hugging but just held him, with her smiling and tearing up a bit, but he wiped those away with a smile. But at that moment, remembered something. "Wait a minute. Hang on!" She put him down, giving him the room to lift up her skirt a bit to look at her L'Cie brand, seeing it's still on stage seven about to enter stage eight with the top far left arrow about to be formed, making him sigh a bit. "Good...You have more time..."

"What do you mean?" She asked, with her then unwrapping his sportstape on his left forearm to see his L'Cie brand, soon to enter stage ten, with an arrow about to form on the bottom left part, making her sad a bit.

"Hey, don't worry about it too much." Ken said, making her look up. "I may have lost more time because of getting my Eidolon, but at least every bit of getting it was worth it." She smiled upon hearing that but heard a cough, making them look to see it was from Fang.

"I hate to break ya moment here, but we better get outta here!" She said, with him nodding.

"She's right. We should get out of here before-" He tried to say.

"...Leaving so soon?" A voice said, putting them in surprised and then looked to see it was Paragon behind them. "So, Ken the Hedgehog...You planned to save the girl instead of leaving her to die? I'm disappointed...I thought you wielded the power to do it." He shook his head, but then stared at Ken. "I am not here to take your emerald as of now, not yet...In fact, I wish to make conversation with you." He stared at Paragon until he nodded, and looked at everyone else.

"Guys, leave me here with him. I'll catch up later. Fang, prepare Bahamut for them to get out. I'll hop aboard soon." They looked at each other in worry, but then walked to the exit, leaving him to stared at Paragon. "What is it you want out of me now?"

"I just wish to ask you how obtaining your Eidolon and nearing the thirteenth feels is all." He said, angering him.

"Alright, now I want an answer out of you. And I know you'll tell me the truth." Ken said, with Paragon nodding.

"Why of course. Ask your question." He said while crossing his arms.

"...Why me?" He asked, which was the question. "Why me, out of everyone in my world? And why do you keep saying that you and I have met back in my world and in Oerba? I don't remember MEETING you! I never did!" Hearing this made him shake his head.

"I see...So you really don't know how exactly?" Paragon asked, but then stared at him. "Perhaps I shall surrender to thinking of such thing. But know that the truth you seek is close, closer than you imagine." He begun to fade into an Orange mist. "I shall see you soon, Ken the Hedgehog." HE officially faded away, leaving him to react by attempting to run but stopped himself.

"Hey! What do you mean by that?! Make some sense!" He yelled, but got no response. He only stood there, wondering what he meant by it but shook his head and ran as quickly as he could toward the exit. Once out of it, he saw Bahamut being flown by Fang, with him then jumping on it to grab a ride, and then flew off and out of the Prison of the Damned and Cocoon II, hoping to no longer be near it for a long time.


	18. Let the Good Times Happen

_**Gran Pulse**__**  
><strong>__**Academia - Time: 17:46**_

It was now sunset in the city of Academia, and was no longer raining due to that. Since the attack in the Prison of the Damned, the military has been searching around the entire area of Gran Pulse and Cocoon II to find them, but there was no lead to where they were. But where they actually were, was inside a group of citizens, blending into the crowd with their hoods from their cloaks up, alongside with Yune putting her hood from her hoodie up to help hide her hedgehog features.

"Thank god we got out of there." Yune said while looking around the city, reminding her of Station Square. "It looks like none of the military are looking for you guys."

"Yeah, and I'm glad for that. I don't want anymore of the military to come after us." Ken said while they entered into the main part of town, seeing multiple people from the area entering into an area that had an extremely large floating top that comes from what appeared to be a carnival, catching their attention. "What's going on over there? A fair or something?"

"Ya know, I don't even know myself." Fang said while staring at it in confusion and crossing her arms.

"It's a carnival. A place where people usually have fun and not give a care in the world." Yune explained, looking at Ken with a smile. "You remember them, right? From our world?" He nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, I remember." He said while staring at it, and Vanille doing the same as well before looking down sadly and sitting down on a bench to think.

"Well, anyway. I think we outta find a place for us to make it our base until we find something about where that lil' pint size went." Fang said before looking at Ken. "What was it that he said to ya?"

"Nothing valuable at all. Just wanted to chat I guess, and said that we'll meet again. Nothing worth a lead." He said before shaking his head. "Anyway, I think maybe we should find a base to use, like you sa-" He looked behind him to see Vanille sitting there sadly, then at the carnival. "...Actually, can you guys search it? I think I need to be alone with her." Both Yune and Fang looked at each other, then back at him.

"Are you sure?" Yune asked, with him nodding.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry, she won't get out of my sight." He said, with the two looking at each other again, then back at him.

"Well, a'right then. Be careful for whatever." Fang said before she and Yune walked off, leaving Ken and Vanille in the area. He stared at her, wondering on what to do, until he looked at the carnival to see a small stand nearby that was selling plastic crowns for free. He looked at her, then back at the stand, and walked over to it, grabbed a crown, and slowly made his way over to her.

"Hey, Vanille. Are...Are you ok?" Ken asked, making her look up to see him, then back down sadly.

"...I've been the cause of a lot of things lately." She said, making him questioned and concerned. "I was the one who helped destroy your world, ruined your life there, and making us a bigger threat than before because of the attack. I've caused nothing but trouble."

"Hey, hey, hey..." He said, crouching down to her so they could look at each other in the eye. "You're not nothing but trouble, you hear me? Paragon forced you to do something you never wanted to do to save Fang. That was all you really could do. Things just...Things just happened. I'm not mad at you."

"You...You're not mad? Or hate me?" She asked in surprise, to which he shook his head.

"How can I hate you? Hate's the last thing on my list. Yeah, I don't like that my world was destroyed, but I can't really blame you for it either. If anything, Paragon's the one to blame, not you." He said, but then looked at his left forearm and was going to check it, but smiled and ignored it so he could look at her. "Come on. Let's both have some fun at that place behind us with what time we have. Think about something else for a change, huh?" She looked at him in surprise.

"You still want to be near me?" Vanille asked, with him nodding.

"Of course I do. I never would have saved you if I didn't." He said before getting up, moved her hood a bit and put the crown on her head, surprising her more, making him smile to see it. "So then, shall we go the the carnival to have some fun..." He pretended to bow down royally and hold her hand, treating her like she's royalty, with a smile. "...Princess Vanille?" She blushed a bit hearing that, but smiled a bit.

"...We shall." She said before getting up, and the two of them walked toward the carnival in arms, while in the distance, both Fang and Yune watched with a smile.

"Aw, isn't that sweet?" Yune asked with a smile. "I haven't seen him this happy since six months ago."

"Is that right? Well I haven't seen her like that since she became a L'Cie, and that was a good thousand years ago." Fang said back, with them looking at each other.

"We should leave them be. Give them this. They deserve it." Yune said as she walked off, with Fang not far behind.

_**Time: 17:57  
><strong>_  
>Both Ken and Vanille both walked together, arm in arm, while looking around to see the multiple games it has, along with a few small rides.<p>

"So, where shall go first m'lady?" He asked with a smile, making her look around the area to see a stand that has darts on the table and balloons attached to a wooden wall alongside multiple stuffed plushies.

"What about...That one?" She asked, with him looking and nodding, and the two of them walked over to it as the man behind it, who was rather big and had a mustache and large hat, looked at them with a smile.

"Hello my fellow couple! Care to try out and win your very own plushie?" The man behind it asked, with them nodding. "Well it's rather simple! Just throw the darts at the balloons just three time, and no more than three, and you win! So, which one of you wants to try first?" They both looked at each other.

"Care to go m'lady?" He asked with a smirk, making her smile.

"Would you like to yourself?" She asked with a smile, which made him smile more.

"But you are the princess after all! I think you should go!" He said, while the man stared at the in confusion but turned into a slight bit of annoyance.

"Really? Well then, I order you to let you go!" Vanille countered, making Ken's eyes widen but accepts it as a defeat and grabs a dart.

"Alright! You win this round! But next time you're doing it!" He said while he aimed the dart carefully at the balloon, then threw it, hitting a perfect aim. He grabbed another one and did perfect shot again, and did yet another one on the last one, with him smiling and Vanille cheering a bit.

"Congrats kido! Ya won!" The man said before aiming his hands at the plushies. "Now, which one do you want?" Ken looked at the ones available, a small Chocobo, a Cactuar, a small cacti that has stiff arms and legs with three small hairs on the head, and a Carbuncle, a small Green cat-like plushie that has twintails, orange pants, and a fancy shirt.

"I'll take the one in the clothes!" He said, with the man nodding and giving it to him, making him smile and handed it to Vanille. "For you, m'lady." She smiled seeing this, accepted it, and hugged him.

"Thank you! It's a cute little thing!" She said, with him smiling that he made her happy by doing this, and then broke the hug. "Alright! Next place!" He nodded and the two of them walked off to the next area, but not they heard a small noise that resembled a sheep near them, making them look down to see a small sheep that had its head on the body with no neck, and had small horns. "Aww, isn't he cute?" She crouched down and begun to pet it, making it bah a bit.

"Yeah, it is." Ken said with a smile, before she got up, and both walked together arm in arm again.

_**Time: 18:02  
><strong>_  
>Vanille picked up a large hammer, trying her best to hold it up for the game their playing; High Striker.<p>

"Uh, you need a bit of help?" Ken asked in worry, but she shook her head.

"It's alright! I've got it!" She said until she officially then pounded the hammer onto the puck for the machine, sending it up but due to her L'Cie powers, it hit the bell but then exploded into small pieces, sending those around the area in shock, even Vanille herself. "Is...It suppose to do that?

"Nope! Uh...anyway, next game!" He said before grabbing her hand and quickly running off to the next game, wanting to avoid getting yelled at by whoever owned it.

_**Time: 18:15  
><strong>_  
>"...C'mon Blue!" Ken yelled while both him and Vanille were standing near a wooden fence, watching a large amount of Chocobos of multiple colors racing each other through the track.<p>

"Go Orange! You can do it!" She yelled as well, with both Blue and Orange coming close to the finish like, but Ken's decided to slow down a bit on him, helping Orange win and making her smile. "Woohoo! Go Orange!" Seeing his lost made him stare in disbelief, then looked down in defeat, which she caught, smiled, and crouched down to give him a small kiss on the forehead, surprising him.

"W-What was that for?" He asked in question.

"Just to make ya feel better." She said with smile, making him do the same.

"Oh, so now it's YOUR job now." He said with a bit of a laugh. "Alright, enough of that. Which one do you want to go now?" She looked around while walking out of what they were doing until she saw a small booth-like object that caught her attention.

"What about that one?" Vanille asked, making him look at it.

"Hey! It's a photo booth! I didn't even KNOW these existed in this world!" Ken said, then he looked at her. "Want to go in? It's fun. All we do is get our pictures taken." She smiled and nodded, making their way to and inside it, and sat down in front of the camera. He looked around the small area and pressed a button to get it ready. "You can always be silly when doing these pictures. Just do what you want to do and I'll follow." She smiled with a nod and they both waited.

A flash occurred a bit later, taking their first picture. For their second, Vanille lowered herself a bit to hug him like a cuddle, which took them by surprise but did the same, with the second picture then being taken doing that. On their third, Ken stuck his tongue out to be silly, with her noticing and did the same with him just before the flash came, which was their last. Once their pictures were taken, then walked out to see them hanging out for them to grabbed, and looked at it with them laughing a bit.

**_Time: 18:57_**

"...So here's what I thought was a good idea when I was ten..." Ken said while both him and Vanille walked their way out of the carnival arm in arm. "When Comet was sleeping, me and Edge thought it would be hilarious to draw a fake mustache and monocle on him to look like a rich man. But it gets better. We drew on him using PERMANENT marker! He was SO mad he chased us all around our old home all day!" They laughed at the story he told, making him smile a bit as well but it faded away slightly and he looked down sadly, in which Vanille noticed and made her concerned.

"Are you ok?" She asked, but he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I just miss them is all. Edge and Comet..." He said before looking up at the sky. "But I have a feeling about somethings. Possibly Stone and I know Gemstone and Ariel died...But I know I'll see them again since they never...Disappeared after my world was destroyed. At least, that's what I think anyway." He smiled a bit by the thought of it, but felt his hand grabbed, making him look to see her holding it, with him doing the same as they looked at each other.

"...Thank you...Thank you so much, for all of your kindness." She said while she stared. "For you always caring for me, and for what you did for me."

"That was why I did it, Vanille." Ken said as he did the same. "I don't want you to worry about anything anymore. Why I saved you, and why I could never hate you. We all would have done the same...Maybe even me." They stared at each other more until they grabbed each others other hand and smiled toward one another, until something finally happened between the two of them; They slowly moved their heads to each other while she keeled down a bit to help him with it, feeling a bit of nervousness between the two of them since they're both different species, and quickly kissed, shocking them but slowly let it happen until they quickly broke it. "I'm sorry...I know that me being a hedgehog and all may seem..." She shook her head and smiled a bit.

"No, it's alright. I...I wanted to." She said, making his eyes widen a bit but then smiled and laughed a bit nervously while looking at her with googly eyes.

"Hey, ya done there?" A voice yelled in the distance as they both looked to see Fang and Yune, with them looking at each other then back with a nod. "Good! Found ourselves a place! Follow us if ya wanna stay here!" She walked off with Yune waving them to follow, making both Ken and Vanille look at each other and nod, about to follow them but she grabbed his left hand without him noticing. He took notice later on, but smiled with a acceptance and the two walked off hand in hand, while he sneakly looked at his L'Cie brand now at it's tenth stage, having the bottom left arrow now formed, making him a bit sad but focused on being with her now; And also creating what could be the first interspecies couple in the Fabula Nova Chrystallis.


	19. Learned Origins

**_Academia - ? - Time: 0:12_**

The group were now inside an old abandoned basement from an old and small house, using as a base, while they slept within it. But with both Ken and Vanille, she was sleeping on his chest for comfort with a smile, making him smile while also petting her head slightly. He kept doing this until he heard something from outside, catching his attention but not waking them up, with him looking at her and slowly got her off him, grabbed the Light Blue Chaos Emerald in her possession, and made his way out to the exit to look around. He looked left and right until he saw there was a knocked down trashcan, and a dog coming out of it.

_"A dog? That's all I was worried about?" _He thought before he shook his head and started his way back, but Paragon was suddenly in the way of him, making him step back and prepare himself.

"So, you formed a romantic relationship with the young Oerba girl instead of hating her...After she destroyed your world...I understand your thinking now." He said with a shake of his head.

"So, that's it, huh? Decided to stalk us until you got the perfect chance to kill me?" Ken asked in anger. "What are you here for THIS time?"

"...To give you the answers you solely seeked for long ago. The truth about all your questions." Paragon said, with Ken only staring but slowly released his guard. "...However, there is only one limitation to learning. It is not where the truth lies, but when it lied long ago."

"Not where but when? What does that even mean?" He asked, until Paragon formed an Orange ball into his hands and threw it behind him, creating a swirling Orange portal.

"...In order to understand on how I have met you, and why you are my target still, you must go to a certain point in time." Paragon said before stepping back to let him through. "I cannot go through myself, for it I met myself in that time, it will create a paradox. But...You, you are a part of history itself. Once you understand it all, you will be returned to prevent a large paradox. If you wish to know the truth, now is your chance." He slowly stepped backwards while fading away into an Orange mist, leaving Ken to stare at the portal, then back at the door to the base.

"...I'll be back soon guys...I promise." He said just before he jumped into the portal, leaving the time he's in.  
><em><br>__**Gran Pulse - ? AF**_

There was a Orange portal from above, shooting out Ken from within it and landed onto a soft and Green plain of land, but the sky was dark and sinister-like.

"What the...Where am I?" He asked before turning around to see a halted Cocoon in the sky that was then stopped by a crystal pillar, shocking him. "Cocoons crystal pillar...That means...I'm at 0 AF!" He looked around more to see a small group being together, seeing it was Lightning and the others. "W-Why here? Did he...Did he trick me?" His eyes then noticed an Orange glow falling from Cocoon and into the soil of Gran Pulse, making him wonder but then saw a Orange mist come out, reveal to be a Pre-Paragon, shocking him once again. "I-Is that...Paragon?!" The mist slowly made its way to the group that held Lightning, Snow, Sazh, Hope, Serah, and Dajh, with them noticing.

"What-What is that thing?!" Snow asked before he prepared himself while both him and Lightning, who took out her gunblade, got in front of Serah, Hope taking out what appeared to be a mechanical Yellow and Orange boomerang, and Sazh also takint out his guns and held Dajh near.

"Daddy! I'm scared!" Dajh said in a bit of fear.

"It's gonna be a'right Dajh. It's all gonna be ok!" Sazh said as the Pre-Paragon drew closer to them, but Ken quickly ran over to him with a prepared Ruin in his hands.

"Get away from them!" He yelled before throwing it at him, making it hiss and run away, while also surprising everyone. He sighed a bit and looked at everyone. "Hiya. You guys alright?"

"We're fine. But...What was that?" Lightning asked in curiosity.

"You're...You're a L'Cie, aren't you?" Hope asked, with Ken nodding and showing them his L'Cie brand, now on it's eleventh stage and formed an arrow on the top right mark of it and the eye getting bigger and becoming more Red, showing he's nearly close to becoming a Cie'th.

"Yeah, I am. I know you might not believe me by saying this, but...I'm somebody from the future. And that thing..." He said as he pointed at where the Pre-Paragon went. "...That thing is suppose to destroy my future. A world I WAS in."

"So, you sayin' that Orange thing right there's suppose to destroy your time? Like, future time?" Sazh asked, but then sighed a bit. "Man, this day just keeps gettin' weirder."

"Exactly. And I'm the only one that can stop him by any means." Ken said before pointing at his brand before covering it up again. "I know this sounds like I think you guys can't do anything, but...I need you guys to live your lives you normally world. If you interfere, it might cause a large paradox. You...You guys believe me, right?" They all looked at each other, but Serah nodded.

"...I do." She said with a smile. "I know you will save your time and stop him for good. I just know it." Snow smirked and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Well, if they lady believes her, then I guess we gotta as well." He said, with Lightning nodding. "Alright, we're counting on you. Give that guy what's coming to him, you got it?" Ken nodded with a smile.

"Some things in life you just do. Do what you need to." Lightning said, making him nod again and slowly back up.

"Thanks guys...Now go live your lives peacefully! You earned it!" Ken said before going off to chase the Pre-Paragon, but not before staring at the crystal pillar while doing so. _"...And you will too soon...Fang...Vanille." _He looked back at the direction the mist was in and ran to catch up.

_**Archltye Steppe **_

Ken quickly ran through the now clear plains of the area, while also seeing parts of the area become destroyed and killed off animals from within the area, making him look around quickly to find the Pre-Paragon roaming around aimlessly still. Once seeing him, he sped all the way toward him and begun throwing a few quick Aeros at him, making the Pre-Paragon hiss in dislike of it and stop momentarily so he could catch up.

"Y-You..." Pre-Paragon said toward Ken, who was now nearby. "Who...Are you?" Hearing this made his eyes widen a bit, realizing that this was how he and Paragon met in the first place, and why he was after him to begin with, but shook it off and stared at him seriously.

"...I'm the one to defeat you and to make sure YOU don't get away." He said before preparing himself for a battle.

"You...You think a mortal like yourself would even stop something like me?" Pre-Paragon asked before the mist rose a bit, attempting to scare him but did no such thing. "Even if you do...I will remember your face, and every single bit of WHAT you are." It suddenly zipped toward him, making him react by quickly flashing Yellow and guarded by glowing White, using his Entrench ability to block the attacks but then countered with a powerful punch, knocking it back slightly but was then quickly punched at harshly by Ken after tapping into his Commando role. Getting punched made it hiss in dislike and fly back a bit to avoid it.

"What's wrong? Is this all you can do? I'm just getting started!" Ken said right before he formed the strongest level of Thunder into his hands, Thunderga, and threw it at the Pre-Paragon, with it hissing and screeching in pure pain before he formed Water around him, prepared a spidash, and hit him with it while doing Homing Attacks combined with Aquastrike to later Galestrike afterwards. Doing these attacks made it screech in complete pain.

"You-You! What are you?! You're clearly not human humanoid!" The Pre-Paragon asked, trying to dodge the attacks but was kept getting hit by the Flame, Spark, and Froststrikes.

"You'll know soon in the future! Something you'll pay for!" Ken said before he flashed Red and formed another Ruinga in his hands. "RUINGA!" He throws it at the Pre-Paragon and it explodes onto him, sending it back onto the ground while moaning a bit and glowing a bit brighter when doing so. He started to become weak by the overwhelming power, and lowered itself onto the ground, with Ken walking toward him with the Light Blue Chaos Emerald in hand. "...It's time to put you down so-" At that moment, an Orange portal opened up from above him, making him look up. "What the..." At that moment, something came out through it, shocking him to see who it was; A nine year old Edge holding the Yellow Chaos Emerald. "EDGE!"

He quickly tried to jump up and catch him, but the Pre-Paragon saw this, swiftly flew toward Ken to knocked him away but also caught Edge in his place. Once the Pre-Paragon caught him, they slowly descended together and looked at Edge.

"So...You are one of the important things to this humanoid..." He said until he started making something on his right arm just before Edge begun to wake up, seeing the Pre-Paragon and make him yell and scream while moving around.

"S-Someone help me!" He yelled around, with Ken then recovering to see what was happening, seeing the Pre-Paragon put something onto Edge's right hand; A Sanctum L'Cie brand. Seeing this made him realize that Paragon wasn't a Sanctum L'Cie, but a Fal'Cie instead. While Edge squirmed quickly, he saw Ken and begun to lose a bit of his consciousness. "K-Ken...Please...Help...Me..." He fainted, with the branding now complete and also making Ken's rage explode.

"You're the cause of it...The cause of Edge being what he is soon!" He said as he quickly ran to the Pre-Paragon and punched him away from Edge, took out the Light Blue Chaos Emerald and grabbed the Yellow, and then used its power to suddenly flash, stunning him. "You're not going ANYWHERE...This is where you'll rest for who knows how long." He was confident of doing this since from the beginning, Paragon said that he did a 'deed', and this was what he was implying, and then used its powers to create two energy chains to stab it into the Pre-Paragon, making it screech but was then dragged into the ground.

"Who...Who, are you?" The Pre-Paragon asked, while Ken stared at him.

"...My name is Ken; Ken the Hedgehog. A Mobian from the planet Earth." He said.

"Ken...I will remember your name and your looks. Once I reawaken, I will find you and kill every last one of the people you love so dearly..." The Pre-Paragon said just before he was dragged and sealed into the ground, with Ken staring knowing he was the true one to create all of the events, and not Vanille, just before he looked and walked to Edge, and crouched down to look at his Sanctum L'Cie brand, with it on the first stage and has a bug-like mark to prove it. He sighed and got up before placing the Yellow Chaos Emerald in his hands.

"...I'm sorry, Edge. I-I have to leave you...For the sake of history and to not cause a paradox..." He said silently until he saw a portal behind him appear, indicating that there's more to know. He stared at Edge for a little while longer before he walked over to it, with Edge starting to wake up again to see him walking away.

"Ken...Don't...Leave me..." He said silently, with Ken looking back at him sadly, but continued to walk away into the portal, leaving Edge to fend for himself because he never wanted to, but in interfering in the events would create a large paradox.

_**Cocoon II **__  
><em>_**Luxuration - ? AF**_

Ken landed onto the ground, and got up to look at the area he was in; The city of Luxuration.

"I'm in...Luxuration. But, when though? Am I back in 400 AF?" He looked around a bit to see a large crowd of people nearby, talking to each other constantly.

"Is what I'm hearing true?!" One man asked.

"Yes! That's right! Every word!" Another man said.

"Will it recreate what Eden was before?" A woman asked.

"Who knows? Nobody really doesn't know anything right now!" Another man said.

"The rise of those Sanctum Fal'Cie is happening again...Isn't THAT just great? I HATE knowing it's roaming around somewhere!" Another woman asked, making Ken's eyes widen a bit in realization and finally understood something; Paragon was always in the area of Cocoon II, the same place like Cocoon before it fell into it's crystal pillar and now metal beams, and that this very place would be the perfect way of creating another Eden with the military also being within it.

Ken now finally realized where Paragon is while fading away into Orange, indicating that his time in the past is now up.


	20. Fight to Paragon

**_400 AF  
><span>Academia - Abandoned Basement - Time: 7:23<span>  
><em>**  
>An Orange portal at where both Ken and Paragon both came across each other last night appeared on a wall, and Ken himself came through it just before it closed, making him look at it in thought.<p>

_"Paragon's...A Sanctum Fal'Cie. He set all that up just to make another Eden...Clever." _He thought just before he walked through the entry way, entering into basement while also seeing the others.

"There you are! We've been wonder where you went!" Yune said in worry while Vanille looked to see him, sighed in relief, and hugged him tightly, with him doing the same.

"It's alright. You should know I'd never get caught." He said before they looked at each other with a smile.

"Where were ya the whole time? We'd thought ya gave up." Fang said with her arms crossed, with him looking at her.

"Fang, how much power do you have to summon Bahamut?" He asked suddenly, surprising her. "Because we're going to need all of our Eidolons for going through Cocoon II; Hecatoncheir especially."

"Cocoon II? What for? We JUST got outta there!" She said while shaking her head, making both Vanille and Yune concerned.

"Is there something wrong?" Vanille asked, but Ken looked at her.

"...I KNOW where Paragon is now, and what he truly is." He said, which put them in surprise. "Last night...I met Paragon, and took and showed me things from the past. Everything. It's because of me that everything happened..." He looked at Vanille. "...Not you. I forced you to be put into that position." He looked down sadly, but then looked at everyone else again. "I was one of the first people for him to see, and the one who gave him a grudge against me to take everything from me. It was a reason to come after me, and used that to help him recreate Eden through the events. He branded Edge and used his hate for me after leaving him for the sake of a paradox so he would follow us, destroy Cocoon so we could be enemies to the world, and also used Vanille to not only find out where I was but to also go through the military to show them we were powerful. Now, here we are now, enemies for his own Eden while he's sitting there Cocoon II and their government."

"Really?" Yune asked, with him nodding. "Wow...He's good."

That lil' bastard...Used ALL that to his advantage." Fang said in anger. "We're gettin' back at him. So yea, I'm ready to go there if ya ready to." Ken looked at his L'Cie brand, seeing it's nearing its twelvth stage since the arrow on the bottom right is about to form, then showed it to them as it made them surprised.

"I'm ready. I'm nearly running out of time." He said before before summoning his Eidolith from his brand, making him smile. "Come on, we've got a plan to stop."

_**Cocoon II  
>Luxuration - Time: 9:01<strong>_

Soldiers of the military are now patrolling the city, making sure that none of the group that broke into the Prison of the Damned entered back into the area, or if they do then they would be ready. One soldier was doing his patrol until he noticed two objects flying toward them, making him wonder what it is.

"Wait...What is that?" He asked until he saw what it fully was; Anima in its Gestalt form with Ken and Vanille on it, and Bahamut in Gestalt with Fang and Yune, making his eyes widen. "The L'Cie are here! They're here to attack!" All the other soldier then looked and begun to shoot their assault rifles at them, but Bahamut reacted by throwing wind with its wings and Ken throwing darkness with Anima's powers, knocking away or harming the other soldiers.

"Yea'! That's how a Pulse L'Cie does it!" Fang said just before they reentered the area of Luxuration and got off with Yune right before Bahamut entered back into its normal stage, with Anima doing the same when they landed. Once they landed, more soldiers came in through all areas of the city, also circling around and trapping them. "Guys just won't quit, will they?"

"They're after you guys, so It's expected." Yune said while preparing her assault rifle, with Ken smirking and suddenly yanking off his cloak and the sportstape on his left arm, revealing his L'Cie brand.

"Come on you happy trigger bozos! Come and fight me, a Pulse L'Cie; Ken the Hedgehog!" He said right before they started firing at them, making him and Fang react by tapping into their Setinel powers and used their Mediguard ability, while both Bahamut and Anima got in front of both Yune and Vanille so they could strike at the while they also attacked themselves. "Vanille, now!" She nodded as she summoned her Ediloth from her left theigh and threw it into the ground.

"Come on; Hecaton!" She yelled as Hecatoncheir begun coming out of the ground and came out, just before it it stabbed quickly at the soldiers with its arms on the shoulder pads, knockinh some of them backwards or knocking them over. Both it and Anima then started swinging their arms around at all of them so it could send them up, with Bahamut them appeared in front of them and smash them with its claws, hurting them severely but also lowered their army in numbers.

"It's time you guys get outta the way! We have a Fal'Cie to beat!" Fang said before she stopped guarding and slashed through the soldiers, with Ken not too far behind and finished the last of the nearby ones off by shooting out the last stage of Fire, Firaga, at them, causing a large explosion of fire so it can send them back, knocking them out with burns. Once they were all defeated, they all put up their weapons and looked at the Eidolons.

"Thanks again! See you guys later!" Vanille said happily before they faded away, returning to their respective Ediloths, then all of them looked around. "Now where could he be now?" Yune looked at a large tower in the area, revealing to be what appeared to be a church. "Think he's in there?"

"I don't really know, but since he's suppose to be a Fal'Cie, it's likely! Let's get over there, now!" Ken said as they all ran toward the large tower.

**_Luxuriation - Military Base - Time: 9:06_**

Stone the Hedgehog himself watched through the city in his office, observing all of the soldiers running through and fire being around the area. He kept staring at it emotionless until he heard footsteps nearby.

"Sir! There have been reports of the three L'Cie ambushing Luxuration again! What should we do?!" A soldier asked after walking in, with Stone staring at the area until he sighed and turned to him.

"...I will enter this battlefield. I have many things to handle with the Mobian L'Cie and the Son of Hamon; Ken the Hedgehog." Stone said, keeping his expression still. "Prepare the Ultima Weapon project. It is time this catastrophe ends once and for all." Hearing this shocked the soldier.

"But sir! It's not ready yet! Using it could probably not hold out on battles for-" He tried to say, but Stone shook his head.

"What happens to my life means no matter any longer, regardless of how well it works. I will do what it takes to save this world, and I will not let my past repeat itself!" Stone said seriously. "Now I shall command you again; Prepare the Ultima Weapon!"

"Y-Yes sir!" The soldier said before running out, with Stone then following but looked at the window.

"...It will soon be time to tie up all of the loose pieces." He said to himself before he continued following.

**_Luxuration - Church - Time: 9:11_****  
><strong>  
>The group kept running through the area to get to the Church while also dealing with any soldiers that they came across in silence, focusing on what's happening at hand. They made their way near the large tower that was indeed a Church.<p>

"Looks like we made it!" Fang said with a small smile and them nodding.

"We're almost there...Paragon's right near-" Ken tried to say until there were multiple aircrafts coming by near them and dropped multiple soldiers of the highest class, and also larger one dropping many Immortals nearby. Seeing this got everyone prepared.

"They really aren't going to let us go, are they?" Yune asked, with him nodding.

"Not really! I guess we'll just have to-" He tried to say.

"Stop there, my soldiers. Let me fight the group." A voice said, shocking both him and Yune, with them actually stopping and letting the source of the voice through, revealing to be Stone now having a set of Brown gauntlets. "Hello once more, son and daughter of Hamon."

"S-Stone!? You're here too?!" Ken asked in shock, but then turned into happiness. "What are you doing here? How did-"

"The Master Emerald helped me survive by ripping into the nothingness and led me to a world for me to survive in exchange of losing the Emerald itself." Stone explained, crossing his arms. "I have been into this world for ten years and four months, leading the military of Cocoon II for the sake of preventing the being known as Paragon from doing any more harm. But it seems like that you, and the Oerbas are much larger ones." He prepared himself. "You four are now enemies of the Fabula Nova Chrystallis, and due to it, I must stop any threat that harms the people of this world. Even if it means killing those who were once my comrades." He pressed a button on the gauntlets, which then begun to to form an even larger body or armor around his body except for the quills that stuck out of a helmet that had two Silver horns sticking out toward them.

"Stone! Please just let us explain!" Yune tried to say.

"I do not wish to hear it!" He said, as the gauntlets then shot out a Rainbow colored blade from it, just like his old ones. "...I wish to give you all a proper burial." He quickly rushed toward them at a fast pace, but Ken got in the way and used the power of his Vendetta to help block it, causing sparks between the two of them.

"...If it's a fight you want Stone, then it's a fight you'll GET!" Ken said before he countered the attack by a punch, with Stone then blocking it by using his arm, causing tension between the two of them until sent their own attacks back and hit each others attack by either their fists or weapon after used the role of Commando, constantly making each and every single one of their blows more powerful until it ended by a final one, making them jump backwards to get out of their way. At that very moment, Ken flashed Blue and begun throwing Aerora at him to deal damage, but it ended up not affecting him by any means, making Vanille them help by throwing the same.

Yune begun to shoot at Stone, but the bullets only deflected, making her attacks useless while Fang ran up to Stone and begun to quickly slash toward him with her spear, with him countering it with his blades as it caused sparks between the two of them.

"What's the matter lil' guy? Afraid behind that armor of yours?" Fang taunted with a smile, but Stone had no relpy to her comment until he quickly found a weak point and sent the spear into the air, catching her off guard as he was about to stab her, but the blade was hit by a Ruin, making him look to see it was from Ken. While keeping his eyes on him, Fang grabbed her spear again tried to stab him back, but he ended up blocking it by now grabbing it, creating a struggle.

"...You very much think I am like your other last remaining name. I am not one who would run away from such things, or let my fear become my guide!" Stone said before pushing the spear back, aimed his blades at Vanille, and shot out small rainbow darts toward her, with her reacting by shooting Aeroga at it so it could somehow be stopped, but still went through it. She tried to dodge but was suddenly pushed down by Yune to help her stop it, not hurting anyone in the progress, while she looked at him.

"Stone! Please stop! You don't understand!" Yune tried to say, but Stone only shook his head and aimed his gauntlet at them once again.

"You do not understand I do this to protect my world!" He said before shooting another pair, which Ken noticed and quickly got in their way before flashing Yellow and used Mediguard to block it, making him take the hits for them. "...You still wish to follow this path? You must have entered your very downfall to become what you were not."

"...Having a downfall doesn't mean ANYTHING." Ken said just before he stopped guarding. "...You knew that no matter what kind of downfalls I get, I ALWAYS get back up and fight for what's right! You'd know that better than anyone!" He slowly begun to be covered by a Brown Aura just after flashing Red. "You may see things much more differently than I do based on our situation, but you know I do what I can to protect the ones I love! This is who I always was Stone, you know that!"

"That's such a lie!" A voice said as everyone looked, except Ken and Stone, to see it's the mayor. "You L'Cie and your lies! You're all the same and say that petty crap!" He looks at Stone. "General Stone. Finish him!" Stone stared at the mayor, then back at Ken with his gauntlets prepared.

"I am sorry, son of Hamon. But for the sake of this world, I must stop you." He said, until Ken finally flashed Brown and full of power.

"I see...Well, it looks like I'll just have to go all out until I beat you and get to that church!" Ken said while he prepared to run. "Ready...GO!" He quickly ran to Stone at full force, making him counter it with his blade clashing with his fist, but then suddenly flashed appeared behind him, trying to stop the attack but was hit in the back. Ken quickly flashed from multiple directions and punched him harshly due to his enhanced strength, crushing his armor more and more and eventually started to crack. "This will finish it! **FINAL RUSH**!" He attack Stone more and more harshly until he dealt the finishing blow by forming a Ruinga and threw it right into his face, causing a large explosion that sent the two of them back and rolling on the ground.

"Ken!" Both Yune and Vanille yelled as they ran over to him and crouched down to him, with him slowly getting up and looked at them with a smile.

"I'm alright guys, don't worry." He said with a smile, then saw Stone getting up weakly while his armor started to crack and fall apart, making him get up and walk over to him, with the soldiers not doing anything since they were shocked that their leader was defeated. "Stone..." He looked up to him, then back down.

"...Kill me..." He said, which surprised all of them. "...I cannot withhold this feeling of pain within my heart any longer of seeing the ones I swore to protect die...From events such as the fall of Cocoon..." He waited for the attack, but was given a hand instead, with him looking that it's Ken's hand.

"...I'm not a killer, Stone. I may have done it to some, but it was situation...I have no reason to kill you...My own friend." He said, with Stone starting at it but accepted it so he could be helped up. "...Everything that's happened lately has all been planed, Stone. Paragon is a...A Sanctum Fal'Cie, hiding out in Cocoon II. He plans to recreate another Eden, like from four hundred years ago. He manipulated our direction of where to go, and it ended up destroying Cocoon in the long run. He did it, so there could be a tension between us and the military...Just. Like. Eden." Hearing this shocked all of those in the military, with him then showing Stone his now stage twelve L'Cie Brand, with the bottom right arrow now formed, and soon the top left to create the deadly thirteenth. "I'm running out of time, Stone, and fast. Fang and Vanille may have more than me, but I don't. I'm the only one that can truly stop Paragon." Stone stared at him, but nodded and looked at all the soldiers.

"...Attention, my soldiers. Ken the Hedgehog, and his friends, are no longer our enemy. We now fight to protect them, and to make sure all of our people in this area are safe and evacuated for the sake of safety!" Stone said while looking at each and every one of them. "Paragon has power like no other, meaning he is dangerous! For the sake of this, we protect the people of Cocoon II, and the L'Cie."

"Stop right there, General Stone..." A voice said as everyone looked to see the mayor holding a pistol at him. "Are you this gullible to believe this? Have you forgotten and a Pulse L'Cie's focus is to only DESTROY? They destroyed Cocoon and we all know it! Now they'll probably destroy Cocoon II and soon Gran Pulse for all we know! All of them are truly evil inside!"

"...He does not lie." Stone said, preparing his gauntlets that were still working. "Because the...The Ken I know, the very one that stands before us, does not lie of such things."

"And I think ya forgot that WE'RE the ones who even saved ya fat behind!" Fang said, preparing her spear.

"We're not all evil. We also have the power to do good as well!" Vanille said while taking out her rod.

"And in every horrible power, there's a good person behind it." Yune said as she prepared her assault rifle.

"You may believe that, but we'll prove you wrong, no matter what." Ken said, showing off his stage twelve L'Cie brand.

"You may either follow your ideas your own way..." Stone said, lifting up one of his arms to make the soldiers of the military aim their rifles at the mayor, shocking him. "...Or you may follow our ideas. It is your choice." The mayor only stared at everyone in complete fear, knowing he's outmatched, then put the pistol down. "...A wise choice." He looks at Ken. "Go and stop Paragon from recreating what was once started while we all evacuate those on Cocoon II to Gran Pulse."

"Alright...And...Thanks Stone, for doing this." Ken said before looking at everyone else, with them nodding, and all headed into the Church to get to the top floor, believing it is where Paragon is held.


	21. The Final Battle and Truth

**_Luxuration - Inner Church - Time: 9:18_**

The entire group entered into the church, seeing a large cathedral as the main area, but what was strange to them was there were no stairs of any kind.

"But...There's no stairs." Yune said while looking around more. "But...I don't understand. It's really large and has multiple floors! How can it not have..."

"I don't know. Maybe Paragon got rid of them or something?" Ken asked as he started to think and walk forward, just before his L'Cie brand flashed Dark Brown, making a layer of the floor below him move a bit, catching them by surprise. "W-What was..."

"What did ya do?" Fang asked, with him shrugging.

"I don't know, but looks like I found our way up." He said. "Come on. Let's find him and finish this once and for all." They nodded and got onto the part he was standing on and it lifted them up through all of the floors while he looked at his L'Cie brand, seeing that the flash made the final arrow on the top left part of the mark soon to complete, nearing the final stage. _"Come on...Hurry up." _He then wanted to take one final look at everyone, then saw Vanille a bit worried. "Are you scared?" She looked at him and nodded.

"I'm just afraid...Afraid of what might happen." She said, but he held her hand in comfort, making her look and smile.

"We're all going to survive this, ok? Turning into Crystal, Cie'th, or whatever else." He said while staring back with a smile. "I...Wanted to let you know that no matter what happens, I'm glad I met you. You and Fang. Now, let's stop Paragon once and for all." She nodded and they kept holding each others hands until the platform finally made it to the top floor, showing a hallways to a throne room. "Let's go." They all walked through it, prepared for anything until they made it through, seeing the area to be Gothic but held a large piece of stone that held a throne, holding Paragon with the six other Chaos Emeralds in hand. "Paragon!" Paragon opened his eyes to look at them.

"...So, it appears you are finally here, and also finding where I rest." He said, still sitting in it. "So, you know of everything I presume?"

"Yeah, that's right!" Ken said in anger. "About you being a Sanctum Fal'Cie and everything! And us meeting, it explains on how you took the form of a Mobian!"

"...Yes, that is correct." Paragon said, slowly grabbing and holding one of the Chaos Emeralds. "It was a form I have never seen once before aside from humans and L'Cie. The looks of one can be deceiving. But yet...You still know so little about me..."

"Knowin' about ya doesn't matter anymore to me! You're plan's goin' down, and you along with it!" Fang said before she prepared her spear.

"We're not letting you get away with this! No amount of people deserve to die over something as a corrupt government like that!" Yune said while preparing her assault rifle.

"We're fighting to protect this world, and to avenge all that you helped take from all of us! Edge, Gemstone, Ariel, and even those on Cocoon that died!" Ken said, preparing himself while Paragon only stared at them, then looked at Vanille in expectancy but she said, instead had a determined look on her face, having it speak all.

"...I see, if that is what you believe..." He said before he slowly got up to descend at a slow pace and land. "You believe that you know much of me, yet you understand so little but decided to confront me head on." He spreads his arms a bit with his Fal'Cie powers flowing in his hands. "...Very well then. Allow me to show you the truest of my power...And fight me as such, as a L'Cie." He looks at Yune, aims his hand, and shoots a light at her, shocking her and suddenly flash in a light. They all stared in complete shock just after the light faded away, revealing Yune to be in a crystal stasis, covered in crystal.

"...You..." Ken said in anger, then stared at Paragon. "YOU MONSTER!" He quickly ran toward him and quickly threw a punch at him, causing a large blow that was both equal in power and also sent them back skidding.

"...Come at me, Ken the Hedgehog. Show me your truest of power." Paragon said before shooting Blizzaga's at him, with Vanille then countering them for him so he could get clear shots at him. The both of them then kept attacking each other through physical force, then through the power of their elemental strikes as fast as they possibly could handle, countering each and every attack they both threw at each other. It was then they both stepped back and threw Ruingas toward each other, countering each and every one of them in which caused large explosions.

"You're plan ends here Paragon!" He yelled until he formed two Ruingas in his hands and threw them, catching Paragon off guard a bit and hit him, sending him back and rolling a bit slightly. At that point, Ken quickly ran toward him in complete anger, then did a Spindash toward him to deal heavy damage at him, with Fang then quickly getting nearby to launch him into the air, giving him enough time to do sudden Homing Attacks at him, damaging Paragon more until he did a flip to grab him in his ball form, and threw him at the ground but recovered by deforming and landing on the ground and skidding backwards.

At that point, he flashed Blue and begun to threw Aerogas at Paragon alongside Vanille, hoping to deal any amount of damage possible as the wind begun to harm him slightly but was enhanced by Fang slashing toward him as best as she could. It was at that point, the both of them quickly threw Firaga at the tornado of Aeroga, with Fang seeing and quickly dashed out of the way, leaving Paragon to burn up within the radius of the tornado, harming him but ended up destroying it by throwing a Blizzaga within it, freezing it but the feeling of getting hit by the Aeroga and Firaga combination still hurt him and slowly begun to weaken him.

"Just a little more!" Vanille said while she then threw Thundaga at Paragon and both Fang and Ken throwing Ruingas, shocking and harming him more while he tried to block it but it finally begun to overpower him, sending him down onto the ground but quickly recovered from the attack by flipping, and begun to rise.

"Your powers have exceeded far more than I have anticipated...But know that it will all mean nothing soon." Paragon said as he then formed a clear sphere into his hands, then looked at them. "Prepare to now face oblivion...Ultima!" He then threw the sphere at them, instantly turning into a hand-held ball into a large orb that was bigger than all of them combined, shocking them.

"Hoo boy! Now THAT'S a big one!" Fang said in response of it as she begun to throw Ruingas at it, but did little to nothing to repel it, making them shoot out any magic they all could make to stop it but did nothing and still headed for them.

"Nothing's working!" Vanille said in a bit of fear, trying her hardest alongside Ken, while also staring at it in how he can deflect or destroy it somehow until he decided to risk something; He flashed in a Brown aura, then quickly Homing Attacked at it. "Wait! No!" Both him and the Ultima clashed with each other, with it somehow overpowering him more and more as time progresses.

"I...I'm not going to lose...With Edge, Gemstone, Ariel...Gone! I-I WILL NOT LOSE!" He screamed in determination while his L'Cie brand started glowing brightly in a White Light, officially turning from the twelfth into the thirteenth stage, having the arrow finally and the eye now fully big and having a White circle in the middle of the eye, which was now fully Dark Red. He screamed in pure determination still, along with pain, and quickly destroyed the Ultima spell and turned into smoke, shocking Paragon.

"W-What?" He asked until a Brown ball came through the smoke and slashed through him with the spindash, making him stay still until he fell onto the ground on his hands and legs, with the attack sending Ken back while holding his left forearm in pain, feeling he's dangerously close to becoming a Cie'th.

"A-Are you alright?!" Vanille asked with Fang following toward Ken, seeing him holding his left forearm in pain as he showed it to her, making her sad.

"D-Don't worry about me now...I'm fine for now..." He said before they all looked at the wakened Paragon, making them smile a bit in a bit of victory, but he suddenly got up and shot energy at them, shocking them.

"Watch out!" Fang yelled as she got in fron of them and tapped into her Sentinel role to use Steelguard to block it but she suddenly flashed into a bright light.

"W-What happened?!" Vanille asked until the light faded away, showing Fang was now in her crystal stasis, now completely made of crystal, shocking them both. "F-Fang!" She looked around it in worry. "Fang! Please talk to me!" Ken stared in complete disbelief until he looked at Yune's crystal stasis, looking both different.

"Wait...They're both different. D-Did our Fal'Cie decided to crystal her?!" He asked until Paragon snapped his fingers, doing something that shocked them even more; Fang's crystal then shattered into multiple pieces, killing her, alongside Yune's. "YUNE! NO!" He stared at Paragon in anger while Vanille stared at the pieces heartbroken and kneeled down.

"F-Fang..." She said while trying to hold back tears until Paragon started to laugh.

"This is it...All is coming according to plan!" He said, making them look at him.

"What...What do you mean by that?!" Ken asked in anger, with Paragon looking at him.

"You see...I do not plan to resurrect Eden to what it was four hundred years ago...It was all to bring and become one with the goddess Etro's lost other; The God of Corruption: Busiris!" He said, making them staring at him. "The very god was shackled by god himself, Bhunivelze, for his power were far beyond god himself! The only way to do it? The truest power of Hate, Despair, and chaos that is endless and eternal; A only source of it would be a Cie'th, but only one that could be more powerful than all the others...That being..." He looks at Ken. "..You, Ken the Hedgehog."

"Me...? What do you mean?!" He asks in confusion.

"You see...You are the most powerful L'Cie ever created in the entirety of the Fabula Nova Crystallis. As a Pulse Fal'Cie, I had my doubts, but I was right to chose you." Paragon said, making them more confused.

"A-A Pulse Fal'Cie?" Vanille asked, slowly getting up to look at him in anger. "What do you mean?!" Paragon sighed upon hearing that.

"I told you that you know so little of me..." He said, but then looked at them. "As stated I am indeed a Sanctum Fal'Cie, but when I was first grown into what I was four hundred years ago, I was put into the soil of Gran Pulse. But there was a feeling within the ground, the power of Pulse that grows and lives within that planet. My power was able to grow within the soil, with its power combining with mine, and I became a Pulse Fal'Cie...YOUR Pulse Fal'Cie."

"What...Then..." Ken said before looking at Fangs remains and then his L'Cie brand, still hurting him. "...Titan wasn't the one who branded us...It was you."

"Yes, indeed it was." Paragon said while crossing his arms. "Ever since I was born, I gained the power of any Fal'Cie; Feeling any presence within any planet, or in fact any world. But...You, Ken the Hedgehog, you caught my attention the most. You see, when I came to your world, I planned to isolate you from your world and friends so you will have a reason to be after me, while to also brand you. However, I realized your friends were also another key to it all. Edge; I branded him so I could leave him in my arms, gain a hatred for you, regardless of you leaving him or not, while to also cause stress and despair onto your soul for not only his hate but for the fall of Cocoon, to have it all add up later on. Stone and his military were all to help with the portion of chaos, alongside the prison break of Oerba Dia Vanille and her 'role'. The friendship of Oerba Dia Fang and your lover was to help form a relationship, and with your sister as well, and then crush it all in one blow to give you true hatred towards me. And finally, the Chaos Emeralds to help the ritual for the summon on Busiris. Every single event was to help create those feelings for the perfect Cie'th."

They only stared at him in shock, knowing they fell for everything that happened.

"All this...Just to make me the perfect Cie'th!?" Ken asked in anger before getting in front of Vanille to protect her despite his brand paining him and darkness slowly leaking. "You're not touching her! NO WAY!"

"...No matter what you do, the plan is now in motion." Paragon said before snapping his fingers, making a light behind Ken, with him looking to see something that shocked him dearly, Vanille in her crystal stasis.

"V-Vanille...No..." He said before he grabbed her hand in worry, but it suddenly shattered onto him, shocking him greatly. "No..." He begun to shake in anger, then looked at Paragon to start screaming, making the darkness flow out of his brand more.

"That is it! Release your hatred, despair, and chaos into your purest power! Let it DRIVE you into battle! Let it become one with you!" Paragon yelled in pleasure until Ken quickly flashed in a bright light, transforming. Once the light faded away, it showed Ken, but now as a Cie'th; Which has the looks of his normal Hedgehog features but now had the skin on his face and his symbol, which was now more sinister looking, Dark Blue, and ripped up ears with Red skin, ragged quills that had more spiked ones all around, a ripped up Orange scarf, full out Black shirt and bottom, and had Grey sleeves with Purple deformed gauntlets and claws that goes up to his arms, but the biggest feature was the Cie'th eyes, one on his chest, and two of them in the place of his eyes. "That's it! The power of the truest of Cie'th; An Ultimate Undying! Release to me your full powers!"

Cie'th Ken then quickly screeched in rage as he shot multiple Firagas, Aerogas, Thundaga's, Waterga's and Blizzagas at Pagaon, taking a majority of it while the Chaos Emeralds in the area glowed darkly, indicating the ritual has now begun.

"That's it Ken the Hedgehog! Let your instincts of a mindless Cie'th guide you! Attack with all your rage and despair, and let nothing be there to stop you!" Paragon said with the Cie'th Ken still striking him with his spell until he quickly jumped toward him and tried to attack him through its claws but ended up getting hit and sent away, knocked down on the floor but quickly got up to do it again. "You're nearly there! Just a little while longer, and the summon for Busiris will finally come! The god to suck all life and souls into nonexistence! More! Give me more power!" Cie'th Ken just ignored him and kept attacking mindlessly at him, only to be completely meant for nothing but also finally completed the ritual for the summon by his throne suddenly lightning up into flames. "This is it! The power of the God of Corruption is here!" Cie'th Ken still didn't care and was about to attack once again.

**"Please don't be like this..."**

He suddenly froze, not doing anything but listened to the voice.

**"Don't be something your not...It's not like you to let being a Cie'th turn you into something your not."**

The voice inside of him was Vanille, but he didn't recognize it until he heard the last sentence, making him remember who he was before his eyes; All the memories of him being born, meeting the others, the times he played with Edge, the arguments he and Comet made, meeting Gemstone, Yune, seeing the Light Blue Chaos Emerald for the first time, losing Comet, defeating Xiran, meeting Eggman, defeating Solaris, Mephiles, having his world destroyed, meeting Vanille, their talks, date, and finally her smile. Remembering all of these made the Chaos Emeralds shine brightly instead of darkly, despite the ritual being complete.

"What? What is this?" Paragon asked before the remaining six floated over to the frozen Cie'th Ken, rotating around until there was a bright flash of him, returning back to his normal form with his L'Cie brand still on its thirteenth stage. "H-How...How is this..." The Chaos Emeralds glowed brighter while Ken only smiled at him until he did a sudden yell, making him flash into a Golden light, blinding Paragon momentarily while his L'Cie brand glowed brightly until it flashed Light Blue-White as well just before the Gold light vanished, revealing to be Super Ken in his Gold aura and now sparkles. "What how are you-Are you not a Cie'th?!"

"Because the Chaos Emeralds do more than just a usage for your own evil purposes, it gives out miracles! The Chaos Emeralds called upon the dead voice of Vanille and brought me back from all that hate and despair!" Super Ken said before showing Paragon his L'Cie brand, now having the Black outside and the Red within the eye Blue and the Black from inside the eye now White. "She called onto them to not let what I am go, and rid of your control as my Pulse Fal'Cie, instead...The Chaos Emeralds ARE my Fal'Cie, meaning they're the one to give the focus! And they froze my brand long enough to accomplish it; Defeat you!" Paragon only stared at him but only closed his eyes.

"..It doesn't matter to me now. The preparations for the ritual is already completed...And thus, Busiris will now be awakened, and its powers are soon to be in my control!" Paragon said said before the flames created onto himself, starting to deform him and destroy parts of the church while it got bigger, making the sky become darker and more sinister. "Have you yet to know my truest abilities, Ken the Hedgehog? I am now the superior being in Fabula Nova Crystallis, the God of Corruption itself!" He suddenly bursted into a large flame as more of the church became destroyed, along with bits and soon chunks of Cocoon II while also turning those that are still on there into spirit particles that were sent to Paragon, absorbing it.

Paragon finally became one with Busiris with the absorption of the remaining souls on Cocoon II, with Stone seeing this while he was still evacuating people on there.

"What...What is this? This power? Did...Did the Son of Hamon fail!?" He asked until he was suddenly standing still and turned into a soul, being absorbed into Busiris.

**"The power of Busiris...Finally flows within arms...Its power is now under my command, and I am ONE with Busiris!" **The voice of Paragon echoed through the entirety of Fabula Nova Crystallis, until he finally rose from the remains of the church while still absorbing all the land of the world and souls, revealing to be a large Orange reaper with multiple scythes on its back and a Black demon mask. Super Ken rose up from the Church, still glowing in the Golden Aura to prevent him from being absorbed while everything in the area was.

"You think you're some almighty god, huh? Well then, it's time to clean up all of their dirty work!" Super Ken said before he started dashing toward Busiris, with it then taking out all of its scythes through telekinesis of some sort and begun swinging them, causing waves of Dark energy to be shot out, with him then spinning with sparkles glittering brightly and reacted by throwing Aerogas and Thundergas at him, stunning him slightly while also giving him the opportunity to keep dashing toward faster. He kept dashing toward him before he got near Busiris to inflitct a large punch onto him, but he saw this and reacted by slashing one of his scythes toward him, but Super Ken quickly blocked it by tapping into his Sentinel powers and glowed Golden with more sparkles. "You're going down Paragon! And everything you're doing now!"

He quickly reacted by throwing the scythe back and begun to pummel him quickly, with his fists covered in the sparkles until he finally begun to kick and punch rapidly while yelling until he finished it by throwing a Ruinga at him, sending Busiris back in pain but recovered quickly.

**"Your power cannot match of that of the God of Corruption!" **Busiris said before bursting into more dark power, fully destroying Cocoon II and now parts of Gran Pulse, while he quickly twirled the scythes with the telekinesis and hurled them at him, with Super Ken dodging them by doing twirls but then stopped two of them with his bare hands, holding it as best as he could until he quickly threw it back after forming Fire and Blizzard into separate ones for his Strike abilities, knocking it back while he was then getting struck by multiple Watergas as it stunning him even more than before.

"You and your new powers and plan will end by me, Paragon!" Super Ken yelled before he charged at Busiris with his fullest speed and begun to punch and kick him after tapping into his Ravenger role, attacking him with his Flamestrike, Aquastrike, Froststrike, Sparkstrike, and Galestrike as fast as he could with his powers. He kept attacking more and more powerful and faster while yelling until he flashed Red and formed two Ruingas in his hands, and attacked Busiris with it, sending him back greatly while his scythes begun to become more worn out and rusty and his mask becoming cracked.

**"No...No, this is not possible! I am the God of Corruption: Busiris! There is no way a mortal like himself could be powerful enough!" **Busiris said until he realized something.**"...Etro...Did you give this Hedgehog more power with the Chaos Emeralds as well?" **He roared loudly in rage. **"No! I will not accept a small Mobian to be stronger than I am! I am BUSIRIS!" **He kept roaring while the sky then formed an Orange portal and a majority of Gran Pulse now being destroyed and soon the entire world of Fabula Nova, with everyone except Super Ken now gone.

"You're being an awful sore loser Paragon! Wanting to take full control but you just can't take me being stronger, do you?" Super Ken asked with a smirk, but then faded away. "No matter what happens, you're finished!" He bursted into his Gold aura and sparkles and quickly dashed toward him at full power, now glowing brighter than ever before. "You're finished Paragon!**FINAL RUSH**!" He quickly flashed by Chaos Control, and appeared near Busiris to attack right through him constantly, making Busiris scream in pain while he kept getting hit until Super Ken finally appeared behind him with Rainbow colors consuming his fist and punched right through him. Once the fist was released, it caused all the scythes and the mask broke.

**"N-NO! HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?!" **Busiris, now forming back into Paragon, said while he broke apart into shards, but then laughed a bit. "Even if you stop me...This world is soon to be destroyed...You have already lost this battle...And you will disappear with it!" He finally faded, indicating Paragon is now defeated, leaving Super Ken to look around at the area still being destroyed while he slowly begun to turn into crystal, indicating his focus is now complete.

"This world is going to be destroyed soon...But there's one last thing I can try!" He said to himself as the seven Chaos Emeralds floated around him while he quickly started to turn into crystal. "Chaos...Control!" A large light was created into the sky, clashing with the Orange portal but the light was then layered on top of the portal, making him smile until he turned into crystal just before the Orange portal destroyed the last remains of the world, Ken included, but it was quickly sucked in by the light, which then turned into a small crystal.


	22. Lost, But Not Forgotten

**_?_**

There was nothing but darkness in the area, nearly nothing except for a crystal and the seven Chaos Emeralds floating in the area. But at that point, the crystal made all of them glow and shoot out another light. The Light Blue one then flashed out Ken the Hedgehog himself and Oerba Dia Vanille, taking them by surprise.

"V-Vanille!" Ken said before the two hugged each other tightly, then looked at each other and the area.

"Where...Are we?" She asked.

"A place with no world or time...That's where we are." He said until the other ones glowed brightly, the Purple summoning both Yune and Fang, the White one summoning Stone, the Red bringing Ariel back, Yellow for Edge, and the Green one to bring Gemstone back. Seeing everyone made them happy. "Guys...You're all here." Edge looked around in question.

"How...How am I alive?" He asked while looking around.

"Or me for that matter." Gemstone said as she looked in the area until the Blue one glowed brightly.

"Hey! What's goin on with that one?" Fang asked, but the brightness begun to light up the entire area.

"...It's going to show and take us somewhere..." Ken said as the light consumed them, taking them all somewhere else.

_**World of the Fal'Cie**_

They all appeared into an Orange space, seeing all of the Sanctum Fal'Cie from within Cocoon all forming their powers into one separate being, an Orange flame that was soon to form into a ball of light.

"What...What is that?" Ariel asked in wonder.

"Is that...It that really...Paragon?" Yune asked in wonder.

"Then, this must be the area in which they created him." Stone said as they all walked toward the flame, in which it started to lower down for them.

"It is Paragon...Long before he became a Pulse and Sanctum Fal'Cie...His real self." Vanille said before she grabbed it, feeling no burns whatsoever, and held it. "If we put him out, then he never would have existed, and our worlds will be there again. But..." She looks at Ken. "...If we do it, then..."

"...I never would cross worlds, meaning...We wouldn't have met, or meet ever again..." He finished, looking down sadly. "Is this...How it has to be?" He looked at her a bit tearfully, with her tearing up as well and nodded. They looked at the flame of Paragon, knowing that this was their fork in the road, with Vanille then crying now.

"I-I know we have to do it. But...It hurts. It hurts to know that this is how it has to be..." She said, with Ken then looking at her and held her wrist, making her look at him.

"Vanille...You always wanted to do whatever it took to make sure everyone's happy, right?" He asked, with her nodding. "Do it...Do it for them. Do this to make them happy, because...If we let all this happen still just so we could be near each other, then...It's selfish. And...If we care for everyone else, we're willing to do whatever it took to give that happiness to them...Even if we are no longer together I would never forget our adventure...Or you...And Fang." He looked at everyone else, with smiles on their faces, in which Vanille noticed, then they looked at the flame. "Come on...Let's blow it out...To save everyone." She smiled with a heartbroken feeling and nodded.

"Ok...Ready?" She asked, with him nodding, as she crouched down and out it near them. "One..."

"Two..." He said, trying to not let the emotions get to him.

"...Three..." They both said just before blowing out the flame, causing a large amount of darkness and also resetting the entire timeline of events in both worlds.

**_? - _**_**Time: 12:46 PM**__  
><em>_**April 4, 3543**_

Ken suddenly opened his eyes after blinking, then looked around quickly to see the area he's in, seeing he's in Uppertown Station Square.

"Ken? Are you ok?" A voice asked as he then looked to see it was from Gemstone, along with Yune, Stone, Edge, and Ariel.

"Yeah...I'm alright. I just...I just felt something strange is all." Ken said, looking at the sky. "I just felt like...Like I said goodbye to someone...Someone I love...Forever."

"Someone? Who was it?" Yune asked, with him looking at the Light Blue Chaos Emerald in his possession.

"I don't know...I don't remember well enough...Enough to remember anything. All I remember is...Her name starts with a V. I don't...Remember anything else." He said while rubbing his quills.

"Are you sure you don't remember?" Edge asked in worry, with him looking to see he's his nine year old self again, which surprised him and remembered a part of when he became a part Cie'th.

"Hey, Edge...Do you remember anything?" Ken asked, but he shook his head.

"Remember what?" He asked, but Ken shook his head instead.

"...Never mind. It's probably nothing." He said while rubbing his quills again, then suddenly felt like looking at his left forarm covered in the sportstape, seeing nothing there since he was never branded due to the change of the timeline.

"You are acting rather abnormal Son of Hamon. Are you well?" Stone asked, with Ken looking at him to see him young again, and nodded, with Yune looking at Ariel.

"Are you sure you want to stay home?" She asked, with Ariel nodding

"Yes, I'm fine sweetie. You all just have fun." She said before heading into the house, leaving them as Ken somehow expected a fireball to hit it, but it never came.

"Are you sure you're alright Ken?" Yune asked, with him looking at her and nodded.

"Yeah, i'm fine. I guess it's just something in my head is all." He said with a smile and nodded. "Anyway, let's get a move on. Our party can't start without us." They nodded with a smile and walked off, plus with Ken but not before looking at the sky. _"...I don't know who you are in my mind...Or do I know if we met...But know that...I never forgot...Nor will I forget ever..." _He looked back at the group to see them waving toward him, making him smile and begun to catch up.

_**In Fabula Nova Crystallis**_

**_New Bodhum - 12:48_**

Inside a small area that was led by a guide, it showed both Oerba Dia Vanille and Oerba Yun Fang in their crystal stasis, holding each others hands. At the same time, despite being in her crystal stasis, Vanille heard his voice in some way.

_"I think...I remember you as well...You were the only one I could ever understand and relate with...I don't think I could ever forget you. You showed me things that noone else has...I know it's impossible...But, a part of me wants to know and see you again...So I can tell you...Thank you... For everything." _She thought through her crystal stasis, and still rested there as a crystal.

They both knew that they don't remember each other clearly and knowing they said goodbye forever, but they both lived their lives as they are now regardless, with nothing of Paragon to tamper with it ever again. Both of their worlds lived peacefully, with no Fal'Cie to destroy it, and to cause any chaos ever again.

**_"Saying goodbye doesn't mean anything. It's the time we spent together that matters, not how we left it." - Trey Parker_**

**_"You and I will meet again, When we're least expecting it, One day in some far off place, I will recognize your face, I won't say goodbye my friend, For you and I will meet again." - Tom Petty  
><em>**

**_X~The End~X_**


End file.
